The Artisan
by Amelia St.Claire
Summary: A new criminal who calls himself, 'The Artisan', kidnaps Elizabeth. How will Peter get her back?
1. A Little Too Normal

It was a normal day at the desk of Peter Burke. A little to normal for his liking. There hadn't been an interesting case for him and his con artist turned partner, Neal Caffrey, to solve in over a week and it was getting to him.

_Click. Click. Click._

Though Peter was never one to promote crime, he almost wished _something_ would happen, anything, just to get him out of his seat. The FBI agent was becoming restless in his chair. Almost uncomfortable. He never remembered it taking so long for someone to commit a crime.

_Click. Click. Click._

Peter's mind began to drift. He began to think about home. First about his wife, Elizabeth, who he loved dearly and would do anything for. Then about his dog, Satchmo, always loyal. Then about how nice it would be for him to be able to go home tonight and sleep in his own bed. Then his thoughts drifted to Elizabeth again. He hadn't seen her in a few days. He talked to her over the phone every night to say_ I love you, Elle. Stay safe. Goodnight. _Other then that, though, he hadn't had much contact.

_Click. Click. Click._

What if he could see her tonight? It was Wednesday, and if he was right, she'd be coming home around 9 or so. The thought of seeing her made Peter smile. _Nothing's happening here, _he thought. _Why not?_ Peter quickly began to put all his papers into his work briefcase, and made plans to pick up some supplies at the supermarket before he went home. He was thinking of making pot roast...

_Click. Click. Click._

"Neal!" shouted the agent, startling the ex-con sitting next to him, not expecting the sudden outburst.

"What?" asked a confused Neal.

"Stop clicking that damn pen! It's driving me nuts!"

"Sorry, Peter. There's not much happening here if you haven't noticed." He gestured to the rest of the White Collar Crimes Unit. He was right. The duo weren't the only ones having a slow week. It seemed that all the counterfeiters and thieves of New York City, had decided to take some time off. Half of the unit's staff were at their desks either staring into space or looking over old case files no one's bothered with for years. Some were even taking naps. Their other partners, Diana and Jones, were also having trouble passing the time. Diana was sitting at her desk reading a book, but kept stopping to look out of the office window and a normally sharp minded Jones was trying to balance a pencil on his nose. "It's boring."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. Actually, I was thinking of leaving. You know, going home to see Elle," Peter said a smile crossing his face.

"I'm sure she'd love that. I wouldn't mind getting out of here either," Neal said, and he started to yawn. Peter gathered the rest of his things and grabbed his coat, as did Neal.

"See you guys later," he waved to Jones and Diana. "Say hi to Christy for me, Diana."

"Will do," Diana responed, and she held back a yawn of her own. After Peter said his own goodbyes, the two walked out of the unit.

They walked to the elevator and waited for the door to open.

"So, what are you and Elle doing tonight?" Neal inquired.

"She doesn't know I'm coming home," Peter responded, grinning. "Thought it might be a surprise. I was thinking of making pot roast..."

The two stepped into the elevator. Right as the doors were about to close, though, a hand slipped in, stopping them. As the doors opened, Peter and Neal found that the hand belonged to Hughes.

"Burke, Caffrey. There's someone here to see you two," Hughes stated simply and turned around to walk towards his office. Peter and Neal knew that meant they were to follow.


	2. Third Victim Claimed

As Peter and Neal entered Hughes's office, they saw they weren't alone. A tall man, with blond hair was sitting in one of the chairs in front of Hughes's desk. Upon their arrival, the man stood up and faced the two.

"Caffrey, Burke, this is Kent White. He's a criminal profiler who's been working a case over in Pennsylvania. Mr. White, this is Agent Peter Burke and his consultant Neal Caffrey," Hughes introduced. Both Peter and Neal shook the man's hand.

"He needs your help. I understand that this isn't your particular line of work, but- well, I'll let him explain. Mr. White..."

"Thank you, Agent Hughes. I don't believe I need to explain my line of work..." Peter and Neal shook their heads no. "Oh, good, that makes this easier. Basically agents, there's a murderer on the loose. However, this one's smart." White opened up a binder lying on Hughes's desk and started bringing out papers, more specifically newspaper articles. White brought one to the duo's attention. The headline read, "'THE ARTISAN' STRIKES AGAIN." Underneath, the subtitle read, "Murderer At Large; Third Victim Claimed"

"This is an article from two days ago. Do either of you reconized it?" White asked. Peter had been in the office since Sunday and hadn't seen the paper since Saturday. Neal however had the privilege of being able to go home.

"Yeah, I read the article," he said, his eyes fixed on the picture of the victim. The caption below it said the woman was 39 year old, Juliet Bernard, and the picture was of her smiling at the camera. Something clicked in Peter's mind. _Where have I heard that name before?_

"Juliet Bernard was here with her husband, the ambassador of France, right?" Neal finished. That's where Peter heard the name. Peter heard on the news that the Bernards were taking a trip to the United States, stopping at different vacation spots along the way, but mainly staying in the New England area and then they planned to travel across the border to Canada. Later, he read in the newspaper a few weeks ago that one of the stops they hoped to visit was the Statue of Liberty, not only because it was a sign of friendship between the countries, but also because Mrs. Bernard wanted to visit it for the first time. That was probably why they were in New York.

"Correct," White answered. "Juliet Bernard and her husband, Ambassador Michel Bernard, were in the country for a short vacation of the United States and Canada. They were planning on staying in the country for a week and a half, before traveling across the border to spend the rest of their free time in Quebec. However, about a week into their trip, the Ambassador stepped out of their hotel to pick up a few things at the local market. When he came back, Juliet was gone."

White pulled another item from the binder. It was a white piece of paper about the size of a busniess card, and was in a evidence bag. On the front of the card, "The Artisan" was printed in black, bold lettering.

"This was found on their bed."

Peter took the card from White. Besides the letters, the card was blank and plain. After examining it, Peter passed the card to Neal, who did the same.

"Were there any signs of a break in?" Peter asked White.

"No. None at all. No broken locks, no shattered windows, no fingerprints. There weren't even any signs of a struggle. She just vanished. The only trace of any distrubance was the obivious disappearance and that card. She was missing for a week."

Neal looked up from the card. "Was? Did they find her?"

"Yes. Mrs. Bernard's body was found yesterday morning, in Central Park on the coast of Harlem Meer. Only she wasn't quite herself," White said, as he took a out a photo from his coat pocket and handed it to Peter. The picture was definately of Juliet Bernard, but White was right. She wasn't herself. She was dressed in turn of the century clothes, wearing a two piece outfit consisting of a red long-sleeved top and a long, and light purple skirt that covered her legs. She also had a sun umbrella, that she was holding upright in one of her hands. Mrs. Bernard's body was sitting up staight on a shaded patch of grass, looking out to the lake. This clearly confused Peter. In the photo, she looked almost _alive. _Her body was placed in the position of a living person, and she was dressed as a person living decades ago. _What could this possibly mean?_ Peter wondered.

Peter then passed the picture to Neal, who upon looking at it, frowned.

"I've seen this before," Neal stated, confused. He knew it looked familiar, but he couldn't remember why.

"As have many people, Mr. Caffrey," said White.

Again digging in the binder, White pulled out another picture, only this time of a painting. Peter reconized it, not by its name, but from seeing it at a museum Elle and him visited last summer. It was a painting of a day at a park by a lake. The men and women were all dressed in old fashioned clothing. There were sailboats out on the lake and people sitting on the grass next to it. In the middle of the painting, a large red circle was drawn around one of the women sitting in the shade. Peter noticed that the woman circled, looked exactly like Juliet Bernard. He handed the picture to Neal.

"Yes, this is what I mean," Neal said. "This is where I recognize her. The painting's by Georges Seurat," he added looking to Peter.

"That is correct," White approved. "'Sunday Afternoon On the Island of La Grande Jatte.'"

A thought came to Peter's mind. "How is she sitting up like that?"

"Fishing line," White said simply. "The kind used for fishing large catch. You can't see them from the picture, but they're there, attached to the trees. There's not much they had to hold up, though. Mrs. Bernard was a rather small woman." White looked uncomfortable for a moment. "I saw the body myself, Agent Burke. Her hair was hairsprayed to make sure it was perfect. There was makeup on her face, as if she was alive. Mrs. Bernard's eyelids were even glued open, made to look as if she was looking out onto the lake. Whoever this was, they wanted their 'masterpiece' to be as realistic as possible."

"How was she killed?" Peter asked.

"Strangled. You can't tell from this angle of the picture, but there were bruises and hand marks on her neck."

Peter and Neal shook their heads in understandment.

"So what brings you here, Mr. White," Neal inquried. White shook his head and flipped through the pages of his binder, pulling out two more articles and two more photos.

"This all began on September 13, 2010 back in Pennsylvania. On that date, Meredith Evans, wife of Congressman William Evans, disappeared from their home. Again only the card remained on their bed and police found no evidence. About a week later, they found Mrs. Evans in a warehouse. Not even an abandoned one. One that has been and will be in operation for many years. She was dressed as the woman from the famous work 'Portrait Of A Young Woman Known As Anthea'. Again, her body was made to be as realistic as possible. Eyelids were open, face was made flawless, hair done perfectly.

"About two months later in November, actor Charles Reed and his wife, Annabelle Reed, took a trip to their vacation home in PA. Mr. Reed goes out for a jog, comes back to a empty house. Again nothing broken, nothing touched. Only the card and the disappearance of his wife. One week passes, and Mrs. Reed is found in a church. She is sitting in a chair all alone. This time the killer made it easy for us to tell what they were trying to receate. She was seated against a wall and right above her was the painting of Leonardo da Vinci's, 'The Last Supper.' She was dressed as Mary Magdalene. Her head was even proped to the side, using the fishing line again.

"After the second murder, my department sent a notice to every major town and city in Pennsylvania, New York, Maryland, and New Jersey. Did we think this killer was going to come all the way here to New York? No, we did not. It was just a precaution. We did what we thought was necessary, and we realize now that that wasn't enough. However gentlemen, we can't dwell on that now.

"The reason we need your help, agents, is because we believe that the killer is a possible a white collar criminal."

Neal and Peter looked at each other.

"How do you figure that?" Peter asked.

"The team of profilers working on this case, which includes myself and my colleagues, have determined that this killer is a male between the ages of 35 and 50, with an appreciation or knowledge of fine arts. This man is most likely sucessful in the area of his occupation, which is probably a high profile and high _paying_ career. We've concluded that the two most possible careers he could very possibly have, are working at museum, whether a manger or an on hand art expert, which would explain the bodies, or working at a law firm or somehow embedded in the legal system. He could be a lawyer, a policeman, or even a detective, which is most likely due to the way he's able to leave no evidence behind. We've also concluded that he may not be the most social of people. You work with these matters all the time. You know how it works."

Peter and Neal looked at each other.

"Well I wouldn't say we're tracking down psychotic serial killers all the time, Mr. White," Neal commented. White just looked down and shook his head.

"He was probably an art major or student at one point or another. The way he positions his victims suggests that he craves dominance and perfection. Also the locations he places the victims at, places where they're easily found, tells us he likes a challenge. It's as if he's asking us to try and find him. Even the victims themselves tell us that he's not afraid to go after important people or the people they love. Agents, this man isn't just _psychotic, _but also intelligent. He knows how to cover his tracks. All of these factors and traits point to a possible white collar criminal. We're hoping that you may be able to look through old case files and see if you can find a man that has this description."

"Mr. White, if this killer orginated in Pennsylvania, what makes you believe we have a file on him here in New York?" Peter asked the thought crossing his mind.

"Oh, right, yes," White said, again looking through the contents of his trusty binder, until he found two crumpled notes in a plastic evidence bags. "These were found in a trash can in front of the church where Mrs. Reed was found." He handed the bag to Peter. On each of them, _Go back to the Met,_ was writtenin fine cursive.

"Due to our profile, we believe he means-"

"The Metropolitan Museum of Art," Neal finished, currently looking at the notes. White shook his head.

"Using our investigative equipment, we've found that each of the notes were written within weeks of each other. Each, precisely days after the murders. In order for him to keep making those trips he would either have to keep renting motel rooms, staying with relatives, or he would have to rent or own-"

"A home here," Peter concluded. White smiled.

"Exactly. We figured that renting hotel or motel rooms for extended times would get too pricey and, if he is an important figure, suspicious. Since he won't be a social character, we doubt he'd be staying with relatives, or that they'd want him to. Owning or renting a home would be a probable reason to keep going up to New York."

White took a breather for a moment and took a sip of water from a glass on the table in front of him. Then he continued.

"To complete our profile, if the killer _is_ a white collar criminal, he may be planning some kind of con at his current place of employment. Whether to rob it or drive it out of business we can't be sure, but we think there may be something he's planning. If he maybe planned another con up here, he may be on file. All were asking is that the two of you look."

Peter still didn't feel confident that White was heading in the right direction.

"Mr. White, even if the notes you found are talking about the Met here in New York, there still is no guarantee the killer has a record here or that he's planning a con in his workplace," Peter explained. _Or that he even _is_ a con, _Peter thought to himself.

White looked uncomfortable. "We understand that, Agent Burke. We're not _guaranteeing _you'll find anything or that he's planning a con, but we're hoping that you'll try. Frankly, sir,... we're desperate to find this killer."

There was a short pause, and then for the first time in several minutes Hughes spoke up.

"It's been a slow week, you both know that. Honestly, it doesn't look like it's about to get anymore exciting. If you help Mr. White, it will if anything, give you two something to do, even if you don't find anything. So what do you two say?"

Peter and Neal looked at each other. Neal shrugged his shoulders and Peter turned back to White and Hughes.

"We'll do it," Peter answered for the two of them. White seemed to brighten up a little.

"Thank you, both," he said and he started shoving everything he took out into his binder. He finished quickly and turned back to them. "I'll be in touch if you find anything. Again, thank you." He handed Peter a business card and left the room without another word. 

First of all, I'd like to remind you all this is my first multi-chapter story so bear with me. Second I'd like to thank everyone for the positive responses to chapter one! Third I am NOT a criminal profiler, I know nothing of the behavior of criminals, and none of this story is based on ANY fact. Just keep that in mind. Again thanks for the reveiws everyone! 


	3. Let's Fly Away

"That didn't seem right," Peter told Neal as the two left Hughes's office. After White left, the two didn't stick around for too long.

"I agree. White seemed to overlook a fews aspects of his profile," Neal said, as the two of them walked back over to Peter's desk. "Should we have said yes to helping him out?"

"At this point I have no idea. However, since we did say yes, I think we should do what we can to help the case until we find anything else out." Peter grabbed his briefcase and jacket and the two made their way back to the elevator.

"Fine, but I don't have a good feeling about this." Neal commented as they walked in and the doors began to close.

"Neither do I."  
_

After dropping Neal off at home, Peter drove to the supermarket near his home and purchased all the ingredients he needed to make his 'famous' pot roast. When he came home, he got straight to work. He prepared, seasoned, and slow cooked his pot roast until it was up to the 'Peter Burke Standard,' and afterwards, he brought out a bottle of Merlot and set it on the dining room table with two wine glasses. He even lit a candle and put it in the center of the table. Satchmo, who was sitting on the kitchen floor watching Peter as he did all this, sniffed the air as the smells of pot roast filled the house. Peter noticed.

"How's it smell, Satch?"

Satchmo barked then rolled over on his back.

"I hope that's a good thing."

It wasn't until around 6 o'clock that Elizabeth came through the front door, Satchmo greeting her before Peter could even get up from his seat in the kitchen. After petting Satch, and upon smelling the home cooking, Elle called out, "Peter?"

Peter stuck his head out of the kitchen and smiled. "Hey, hun."

A surprised Elizabeth smiled back, excitedly said, "Hey!" then walked over to kiss her husband. Then she asked happily, "What are you doing home? I thought you were stuck at work until tomorrow!"

"Neal and I are helping out on a new case and we're starting tomorrow. Thought I might as well come home for the night before I can't for who knows how long."

Elle smiled. "Well I'm glad you did," she said and she kissed him again. Once more she smelled the air. "Is that pot roast?"

Peter beamed. "What else?"

Elle laughed and turned towards the sofa in their living room. She took a seat and with a relieving sigh, she kicked off her heels. Peter brought the two wine glasses and the Merlot over to the sofa and Elle. He uncorked the bottle and poured glasses for both himself and her. She accepted the glass and said, "Thanks," as she took a sip.

"Rough day?" Peter inquired, as he moved in closer to Elle and put an arm around her.

"No, everything really well today. I'm just tired from walking home."

Peter was confused. "Walking home?"

"Someone took my parking spot outside, and the closest open space was two blocks away over on Pine Street. I know it's not that far, but I was walking in _those."_ Elle gestured towards the discarded heels on the floor. Peter laughed, then glanced out the window to see a large white van parked in Elizabeth's usual spot.

"Do you want me to move my car? You can have my spot if you want."

"No, it's fine. It'll get me moving in the morning." Elle chuckled, and then she jumped a little in her seat as the kitchen stove timer went off. Peter smiled down at her.

"Dinner is served."

"Please."

"Do we have to?"

"Yes."

Peter let out a sigh. Then he looked down at Elizabeth sitting with him on the sofa again. After the two enjoyed dinner, they decided it would be a good idea to watch a movie. Elizabeth suggested they watch _Casablanca, _one of her favorites_. _Peter, however, never being that fond of the movie, but knowing it was only a matter of time before he gave in, tried to discourage her.

"What about-" 

"No."

"There's always-"

"Please, Peter?" She was giving him the puppy dogs eyes she knew he couldn't say no to. He sighed.

"Fine." She flashed a wide smile at him and kissed his cheek.

"Thank you, hun! I'll go make popcorn." With that she hopped up from her seat and went into the kitchen. Peter got up from his seat also, and placed the movie into the DVD player. When Elizabeth returned, the opening credits of the black and white film had just started. Throughout the movie, Elizabeth quoted the lines of Ingrid Bergman while (much to Elle's delight) Peter

would occasionally quote Humphrey Bogart. And of course, as always, Elizabeth began to tear up when Rick remembers the times Ilsa and him had in Paris. Peter chuckled, knowing too well it was bound to happen. When the movie was over, Elle looked at the clock in their living room. It was 10:33.

"That late already?" Elle complained, a sad look forming on her face. Peter looked, saw the time also and frowned. He sighed, and then yawned.

"Well, I guess it's time for bed," Elle sadly stated, wishing she could have more time with Peter. She knew, however, that he needed his sleep and that he couldn't be tired or distracted if something were to happen at work. She began to get up.

"Not so fast," Peter said, grabbing her arm and making her sit back down, as an idea crossed his mind. Elle gave Peter a confused look as _he_ got up and walked over to the CD holder they had. Quickly, he found the album he was looking for and placed the CD into the CD player. He hit one of the buttons a few times and waited. Elle's eyes widened as the familiar music played. It was _Come Fly with Me _by Frank Sinatra.

"Peter..." Elle started, but stopped, tears filling her eyes. She shook her head and continued. "We haven't listened to this in ages."

Peter laughed. "I know." He held his hand out to Elle. "May I have this dance?"

Elle smiled widely at him, got up and took his hand.

"Of course," she answered, and the two of them danced to the artful voice of Sinatra, in the middle of their living room.

_"Come fly with me, let's fly, let's fly away..."_

When Peter awoke the next morning in his bed, he was alone. Downstairs he could hear the sounds of Elle getting ready for work and Satchmo barking.

"Satch," he heard Elle saying from the kitchen, "stop barking! No one's out there!"

Peter then got out of bed and dressed in his normal work clothes, a suit and tie. As he changed, he looked out the bedroom window and saw that the white van that had taken Elizabeth's spot the day before, was already gone. _Sure _now _you move, _Peter thought to himself.

He walked downstairs and into the kitchen and saw a hot pot of coffee waiting for him. He also saw Elizabeth rushing around the house, putting together whatever last minute things she needed for work.

"I'm late, I'm late, I'm late," she said hurriedly. Peter smiled at her.

"Okay hun, I-"

"The Draper's party is at ten this morning and the Conrad Family Reunion is at five this afternoon and Alice just texted me and told me the cake hasn't arrived yet-"

"Elle-"

"and the Phillip's party is at nine tonight, so I'll probably be late-"

"Elle!"

Elizabeth stopped in her tracks and took a deep breath. "Yeah?"

Peter walked over to her. "I love you."

She smiled. "I love you, too." She kissed Peter on the lips gently and he kissed her back. When the two parted, she gave him a hug and quickly kissed him on the cheek.

"I gotta go," she said. "I'll call you tonight, okay?"

"Okay," Peter responded. After Elizabeth grabbed all her bags and yelled, "Bye Satch!", she all but ran out the door.

Peter walked back into the kitchen, knowing that he himself only had a few minutes before he had to head into work. For about two or three minutes, he sat at the kitchen table drinking his coffee and petting Satch. It wasn't until he was putting on his coat, that his work cell phone began to ring. He looked on the caller ID and it read unknown number. He answered it.

"Hello?" he asked.

"So I heard you've taken my case."

So what do you guys think? Shall I continue? As always I own nothing!


	4. The Innocent

Peter stopped in mid-step. The voice on the other line wasn't real. It was too deep and mechanical to be human. Whoever was calling him was using a voice scrambler and Peter had no chance of knowing who it was.

"That depends. Who am I speaking to?" Peter asked coolly. The person on the other line laughed.

"Why the Artisan of course, Mr. Burke! Who else?" it said. Peter froze. _How did this man get my number?_ he thought.

"Well isn't this a surprise!" Peter said with false happiness. "You know, I could congratulate you in person for finding my number, _if _you tell me where you are."

"I could, I could. But why spoil all the fun? In case you haven't already heard, I present a challenge to most people."

Peter laughed sarcastically. "I have. I also hear that your ego's in check."

The Artisan chuckled. "And rightfully so, Mr. Burke. No other person could pull off my work. My masterpieces are one of a kind!"

"Masterpieces!" Peter scoffed. "You kill innocent women for game! Your 'masterpieces' are murder!"

The Artisan was quiet for a moment, then in an angry intense voice shouted, "You think this is a _game_? Burke, it is anything, but! And those women weren't _innocent. _They were rich, ungrateful, disgraceful-" He cut off and Peter heard him take a deep breath. He paused for a moment before continuing. "If you would like to think of it that way, however, maybe I should set the stakes higher."

Peter didn't understand what he was saying. "What are you trying to sa-"

"You have a_ lovely _wife."

Peter felt the blood drain from his face. He couldn't move. Then anger overflowed in him.

"_You stay away from her!" _Peter growled into the phone. He never remembered feeling this angry before. The Artisan chuckled.

"Have you ever felt what it's like to lose the most important thing in your life, Mr. Burke?" When Peter didn't answer, he continued.

"Well, it feels a little like this."

The Artisan's 'voice' sunk into the background, and Peter could hear him say, "It's for you."

"Peter?" a small scared voice came. Peter couldn't speak.

_"Elle?" _he finally spit out.

"Peter, please-" Elizabeth yelled, but she was cut off. Peter heard a scream and the sounds of a struggle in the background. And then there weren't any. The Artisan came back on the phone line.

"Whatever you're feeling now, Mr. Burke, that's what it feels like."

Peter could feel his body shaking, and he felt sick to his stomach. He stuffed the phone in his pocket, and ran out the front door of his house. Fear over took him, as he fanatically started running towards Pine Street where Elle said she parked her car. He felt cut off from his body, and the ache of running at top speed in the cold of March wasn't bothering him in the slightest.

_NO! NO! NO! _he kept repeating in his head over and over again. _NO! NO! NO! _

When Peter reached her car, he was alone. She wasn't there.

"Elle!" he yelled into the air. But she was no where in sight. "ELLE!"

"PETER!"

He turned and in a dark alley across the street, he saw Elizabeth being pushed into a large vehicle by a man with a ski mask over his face. Peter took off into a sprint, running across the street as fast as his legs could carry him. But he was too late.

The vehicle was already pulling out at top speed in his direction. Quickly jumping out of the way, Peter landed hard on the pavement. The tires of the vehicle screeched and with the roar of the engine, it hurriedly drove down the street. Peter rapidly tried to get up and chase it, but it was no use. It was already gone. Not before Peter got a good look at the vehicle, though. It was the white van that took Elle's spot, and was parked outside his house that morning.


	5. Timer

Pacing the floor of his place of residence, Neal was beginning to worry. The ex-con, who had been waiting fifthteen minutes for his partner to pick him up, didn't know whether he was more alarmed or annoyed at Peter for being late. He knew all too well that if he was the one late, Peter would have talked his ears off with a lecture about responsibility and trust. However, a few minutes later when Neal's cell phone rang, his worry evaporated and his annoyance grew. He answered happily, with a tinge of sarcasm in his voice.

"Well it's about time. I was beginning to think you forgot about me-"

"Elizabeth's been kidnapped!" Peter answered. He sounded out of breath.

Neal froze.

"What?"

"_SHE'S BEEN SNATCHED, NEAL!"_

Neal jumped were he stood. He never heard Peter so panicked, and desperate.

"Peter, did you see who did it?" Neal said, calmly, but he knew it wouldn't last long. He was beginning to panic himself.

"Yes," Peter answered, and he paused. Neal could hear him breathing hard. "It was the Artisan."

Neal's breathing stopped for a moment. "Are you sure it was him?"

"YES, I AM SURE! HE CALLED ME AFTER HE TOOK HER!"

"He called you? How did he get your number?"

"I don't know, Neal! I don't know..." Peter trailed off and Neal heard him kick something in the background.

"Okay, Peter, listen to me. Come and pick me up, okay? I'll call Mozzie and Diana. We're gonna find her, okay?"

"Neal..." Peter paused. "Neal, I can't lose her. I can't! I CAN'T!"

"Peter, calm down! Come and get me. We _will_ find her."

"We have to, Neal..."

* * *

After Neal got off the phone with Peter and asked June to keep Satch at her place until he came home, Neal called Diana.

"Diana," she answered almost right away, her voice filled with boredom.

"It's Neal. We have a problem."

"What's wrong?" she asked, her tone more alert now.

"Elizabeth's been kidnapped."

Diana didn't answer right away. When she did, her tone was grim.

"What? What happened?"

"I'll explain everything later. Long story short, Peter and I were going to start helping out on a case and the killer involved in it took her."

"Oh my god. How's Peter doing?" Neal didn't respond right away.

"Not well. He's coming to pick me up and we're coming over."

"What can I do?"

"Tell Jones and Hughes what's going on. We'll be over soon."

"Okay, see you then."

Neal hung up the phone and immediately called Mozzie.

"Yeah," Mozzie answered.

"Moz, Elizabeth's been kidnapped."

Mozzie was silent, then answered "Mrs. Suit? What?"

"Remember the case I told you about, that Peter and I were helping out on today?"

"Yeah, psycho, serial, wife killer, right?"

"Yeah. Well the killer found out."

Mozzie was quiet. After a moment he answered.

"What can I do to help?"

"Find out anything, _anything,_ you can about the kidnapper. I don't care if it's the address of his home or name of his dentist. Whatever you find, tell me."

"I'm on it. How's Mr. Suit?"

"Remember me the first week after Kate died?"

"Unfortunately."

"Well, he's like that. Only worse."

* * *

It usually took about twenty minutes to get from Peter's house to June's, but Peter arrived there in seven. When Peter walked in the house, carrying Satch on his leash in one of his hands, Neal was surprised. He was about to comment when Peter stopped him.

"I broke about every New York traffic law to get here as quickly as I could. We can't waste _any_ time."

Neal starting shaking his head in agreement as June walked down the stairs.

"June, thank you so much for taking Satch," Peter thanked.

"Anything I can do to help," and with that she took Satch's leash and lead him into the house.

"Bye June," Neal yelled, and the two raced out the door.

It wasn't until the Neal and Peter were in the car together that Neal really looked at Peter. Neal noted that he looked like he hadn't slept in a mouth and aged about ten years. Neal thought it was right to say something.

"Peter..."

"I don't wanna talk about it, Neal." Peter's voice was hard and cold. Neal was one of the only people in the world who knew that that meant he was scared. Neal ignored his comment.

"Was there anything that stood out? Anything that could point to where he is?"

"I don't know, Neal!" Peter hands were starting to turn white on the stearing wheel and the car was beginning to speed up.

"Peter, calm down. We're going to find-"

"NEAL!" Peter hit the brakes and the car came to a sudden halt, the tires screeching in protest. Peter looked pain-stricken.

"Neal, they didn't find the other women in time," he said quietly, his voice pained and hurting. Then he started to ramble. "Neal, what did he do to those women before he killed them? Did he hurt them? Scare them? Did he..." Peter stopped not wanting to finish his sentence. Then his eyes turned murderous.

"I swear to god, if he touches her, I'll kill him!" he shouted and he sounded like he meant it.

"Peter, listen to me. The longer we wait, the more time he has to get away."

Peter seemed to snap out of it a little and shook his head in agreement.

The rest of the ride to the FBI was quiet. Neal shot a few glances towards Peter every few minutes or so, but Peter didn't seem to notice. He was lost in his own thoughts. When they arrived, Peter ran up the stairs leading to the building and couldn't get to the elevator fast enough. When they reached the White Collar Crimes Unit, they were met by Diana, Jones, and Hughes. All of them started to bombard Peter with questions.

"Peter, what happened?"

"Did you get a good look at him?"

"Where were you when he took her?"

Peter wouldn't listen, however. He pushed past all of them and all, but sprinted up to his office. Neal followed closely behind. Peter started rummaging through the contents of his desk until he found what he was looking for. It was the business card White gave him. On it, was the number White gave him to contact him if they found anything. Peter started to dial the number as quickly as he could. By this time, Neal and him were joined by Diana, Jones, and Hughes.

The phone rang three times before White picked up.

"White," he answered, no expression in his voice.

"White, it's Agent Burke."

"Oh, hello, agent. That was quick. I thought you and Mr. Caffrey were starting toda-"

"White, the Artisan kidnapped my wife."

White didn't speak for a moment.

"What? That can't be! I only showed you the case yesterday-"

"He _called me, _White, right after he took her. I _saw_ him _push her _into an UNMARKED WHITE VAN!" Peter was shouting at this point. The panic was starting to come back into his voice.

"Agent Burke, I-I don't know what to say-"

"White, were there any similarities between the cases?" Peter heard some papers moving in the background.

"Well I umm- there has been some-"

"WHITE!"

"Okay, okay! All the wives' husbands were from money. All the husbands were famous or important men. All the wives were found in high traffic locations-"

"White, was there anything consistant with the abductions themselves?"

"No. They were all abducted miles away from each other, all in different places. Not even the buildings themselves had anything in common..." White stopped for a moment. "Wait. There was one thing. All the women's bodies were found exactly one week after they were kidnapped. Does that help at all?"

Peter felt like screaming. What White said didn't help one bit. It only put a timer on the bomb.

"Yeah, White, thanks."

"Okay. I'm very sorry. Good luck."

Peter didn't respond. He just hung up the phone.

"What did he say?" Neal asked after a few moments. Peter turned to them.

"We have one week to find, Elizabeth. Or..." Peter stopped, struggling to finish the sentence. "The Artisan's gonna kill her."

When Elizabeth woke up, she was in a dark room. She could barely see five feet in front of her, but she could still tell the room was small. She was lying down on what she believed was a bed and to her side, there was nightstand was a digital clock. It read 9:45 pm.

_How long have I been out? _she thought to herself. The events of the day suddenly came back to her. She froze. She suddenly became very paranoid of her surroundings and hugged her legs to her chest tightly. She started shaking. Then she heard a noise from above her. Footsteps. Suddenly, there was a great brust of light, and Elle could only see the dark silhouette of a figure, because her eyes hadn't yet adjusted.

"Hello, Mrs. Burke."

* * *

Hello everyone! Sorry this took longer to update! What do you all think?


	6. Rules

It was a normal day for Lily Palmer as she walked into the Caper Law Firm, her place of employment. She was carrying two large lattes and a espresso, along with the rest of the documents and files she had to bring with her. She forgot her briefcase at work the previous day, so she was carrying all the papers by hand along with the drinks and her purse. As she walked through the front doors, she saw the security guard Frank at the front desk, who smiled at her noticing the familiar face. Lily knew that even though Frank knew her and that she's worked there for the past seven years, it was protocol for her to show her ID. As she made an attempt to reach in her purse for it, Frank noticed all the items she was carrying.

"It's fine, Lily," Frank said, pressing the button that opens the glass doors to the main lobby of the building.

"Are you sure?" Lily asked, not wanting him to get in trouble.

"I'm sure. Have a nice day now," he said.

"You're a saint, Frank. Have a good day yourself," she added as she walked through the doors.

Lily walked to the elevator and rode up to level 5, where she worked. The law firm was large, and Caper wasn't the only lawyer there. He had a staff of twelve other lawyers along with himself. He started the successful business along with his business partner Jack Donor, who died about a year after the two started it. The firm was originally called Caper and Donor Law, but the name was changed after the death. Since then, both the staff and the building itself grew.

When Lily got off the elevator, she went through another set of glass doors. Only a few feet from them were the desks of her and her co-workers. As she entered, two sets of eyes looked towards her.

"She brings gifts!" Gwen Tyler said, as she noticed the coffees.

"Oh, and the good kind even," Alice Turner also commented. Lily had been working as a secretary with Gwen for about four years and Alice there longer than the both of them. She had grown close to the two of them, and she considered herself lucky that she actually liked her co-workers. Lily carefully placed the drinks and the papers on her own desk and quickly breathed a sigh of relief that she didn't dump anything. Then she turned to the drinks, picking up the two lattes.

"Two vanilla caramel lattes, extra whipped creme for the two of you," she handed them both one of the two and then took the remaining drink saying, "and one chocolate espresso extra foam for me."

"Cheers," Alice said and the three of them bumped the drinks together then each took a spit of their own.

"You should really get the latte next time," Gwen commented.

"I don't like the taste," Lily responded and she continued to sip her drink.

Alice held her cup of latte in front of her mouth and started to talk in a high voice.

"Come on, Lily! You know you want too! Join us. _Joiin uss."_

The three of them started to burst out laughing, all of them almost spilling their drinks. When the three finally calmed down after a few moments, Gwen remembered something.

"Oh, by the way. Check your e-mail. Caper sent everyone out a message."

Lily, who was still laughing a little, turned on her computer and opened her inbox, seeing that she received one new message and opened it.

_"Caper Law Firm Staff_," it began. She continued to read.

"_As you all know, for the past few months I have been participating in a program that helps convicts reduce their sentences by doing community service. I'm taking another one of their convicts to work so they can perform custodian services around the level five section of the building. As usual, the convict is not allowed to make phone calls, stay alone in closed rooms, leave the building without an escort, go into rooms where significant documents are or into private offices, and is __**not**__ allowed under any circumstance to talk to staff. The convict has been told of these rules, and any violation of them will result in their withdrawal of the program. _

_The convict's name is Shannon Young. She is a con artist, who in the previous year, scammed a man out of thousands of dollars (his whole life savings.) Young is charismatic, charming, and is a professional liar. You cannot trust her with anything. She will be with us for about a week and will be coming in with me today. If you see her acting suspicious, immediately contact me. _

_Steward Caper."_

When Lily was done reading the email, she turned to Alice and Gwen.

"He just had somebody here like a week ago, didn't he?"

"Yeah, he did," Alice responded.

"Maybe he's-" Gwen started, but stopped quickly when she saw who just entered the room. Steward Caper was walking through the glass doors when Lily and Alice also noticed he was present. All at once, the three women greeted, "Good morning, Mr. Caper."

Caper stuck his hand up at them in recognition and nothing more. He wasn't much for words. The started to walk past the women's desks when the three noticed he wasn't alone. Behind him was a pretty, brunette women with wide frightened eyes. She was holding what looked like a navy blue janitor work suit.

_She doesn't look like much of a con, _Lily thought. _She looks... scared._

Caper kept looking behind himself, as if to make sure she was still there, until he opened the door to his office and the two stepped in.

"She does _not_ look like she could have robbed a man of his life savings," Lily commented, when the door to his office closed. "I mean, she probably could. She's got the looks for it, but she looked terrified!"

"Well, so did the other three. But they would've be here because of nothing, right?" Gwen responded.

"I guess not." Alice said, taking another sip of her latte.

Lily didn't seem so sure, however.

* * *

Hello everyone! I wanted to take a different approach to this chapter. Neal and Peter will be in the next! Please remember that none of this is based on real fact. Thanks to everyone for the great reviews! You all really kept me going! Thanks again!


	7. Nothing

"Nothing?"

"Nothing."

Neal put his head in his hands and sighed.

"Moz, she's been missing for two days. There has to be _something_."

"I'm sorry, Neal. Nothing." Neal could hear the frustration in Mozzie's voice. Neal had almost forgotten that Moz had actually grown fond of Elle in the months they had met.

"I'll keep looking, Neal, but you have to keep in mind. Most people don't go around boasting a kidnapping."

"I know, Moz." There was a short pause.

"How's the suit holding up?" Mozzie asked sympathetically, something Neal didn't normally hear in him.

"Not well. He hasn't gotten a full five hours of sleep since she was taken. And when he does he gets... nightmares. Bad ones."

Mozzie let out a sigh on the other end.

"I'll keep looking."

"Thanks, Moz."

From behind, Neal heard Peter call out his name and then turned to see him looking at him from out his office door.

"Neal, who is it?" he asked, a little bit of a hopeful look on his face.

Neal then loudly said, "Thanks, Moz. Call me if you hear anything." Peter's face dropped a little, but then looked up.

"Yeah, Neal," Mozzie said, and then he hung up. Neal closed his phone and walked over to Peter.

"Did he find anything?" Peter asked hopefully.

"Sorry, Peter."

Pain filled Peter's features, and then he turned back and walked into his office. Everything was overturned. For the past two days, the two of them, Diana, Jones, a few other special agents, and Hughes were looking through every file they had in the unit. So far, they didn't have much luck either. Neal watched as Peter slowly walked over and sat in the chair behind his desk. Peter picked up the picture of him and Elle setting on his desk and looked at it wistfully. He then sat it down and put his head in his hands. After a moment, looked up and had a new look of determination in his eyes. He then continued to read the file open on his desk.

* * *

As Elizabeth and the Artisan walked into his office, the Artisan pulled out a seat in front of his desk motioning for Elizabeth to sit in it. She didn't move.

"Sit," he said, his voice light yet commanding. Elle just stared at him.

"I said, _sit." _His voice was frightening and a chill went up Elle's spine. She slowly walked over and sat in the seat. The Artisan walked over and sat in the seat behind his desk.

"Now, as you know, you are no longer Elizabeth Burke. From now on, you are Shannon Young. You have no husband, no job, no life. You _will _respond to Shannon, and you _will _be this new person-"

"And if I don't?" Elle asked definitely. The Artisan smiled wickedly.

"Then, Mrs. Burke, I won't give your husband the chance to find you. I'll kill you before the week is over."

Elizabeth was terrified and knew this man wasn't lying. However, she decided to play tough.

"Go ahead. Kill me. The FBI will find you soon enough."

He grinned.

"Fine, Mrs. Burke. How about this. Isn't of killing you, I'll kill your husband and his little side kick. How would you feel about that? I found you two once. I could find you again."

Elle froze. Though she knew Peter was a trained agent and could take care of himself, that didn't mean she wanted this man going anywhere near him or Neal. In fact, the thought of him hurting Neal made her want to throw up, but if he hurt Peter... When she didn't respond the Artisan continued.

"You will refer to me as Mr. Caper or sir, whichever you prefer. I will lead you to the restroom so you can change into your uniform." He gestured to the clothes Elle was holding in her lap. "I hope you enjoy your job here, Mrs. Burke. You'll be here for a while." The Artisan smiled menacingly and got up and walked to the door, opening it up and motioning for Elle to walk outside. With one final look at the office, Elizabeth got up and did as he said.

* * *

Hello everyone! I'm sorry this took so long to post! As normal, none of this is based on real fact. Thanks!


	8. A Lead

"Peter...P_eter..._**Peter**...PETER!" Peter kept hearing Elizabeth's voice in his head. He couldn't see anything around him. It was dark.

"Elle?" he asked desperately into the blackness. "ELLE!"

He heard a scream and Peter tried running towards the sound, but the scream was coming from every direction around him.

"Have you ever felt what it's like to lose the most important thing in your life, Mr. Burke?"

He heard the Artisan's menacing laugh.

"NO!"

~!~

Peter woke up with a start on his desk, the file he last remembered reading under his head. Elizabeth was missing for three days now, and he had spent those days at the office trying to find a suspect. He hadn't gotten much sleep in those days and it was really taking a toll on him. He looked at the clock on his desk. It was 9:32. Peter quickly got up and saw the number of people in the room. Neal and Diana were sitting on boxes of files, reading, and a number of agents were scrambling around putting other files in piles. He walked over to his two co-workers.

"Why did you let me sleep?" he said sourly.

"You need rest, Peter. You won't be much use to her if you can't even keep your eyes open," Diana said, not looking up from her file. Peter knew she was right, but didn't say anything. Neal didn't look up from his file, until his phone started ringing. Peter looked to him and Neal looked at the caller ID.

"It's Mozzie."

Neal answered the phone.

"Yeah, Moz."

"Neal, I may have something. You said Peter saw a large white van drive away with Mrs. Suit, right?" Mozzie said, his voice sounding excited, not a common emotion in Moz. Neal was also surprised to hear Mozzie call Peter, Peter and not Mr. Suit, but he decided not to comment.

"Yeah, why?"

"Remember Robby L. who sells watches on 5th Avenue?"

"Yeah, likes to rip off businessmen. Why?"

"I put the word out I was looking for it. Robby said he was waiting for the bus on 57th Street three days ago, when he saw a white van park on the side of the street. Says the driver ran out and threw something away in one of the trash cans. He also said while the driver was gone, someone tried to escape out the back of the van. When I asked what this someone looked like, he said a pretty brunette wearing nice clothes. When I asked what the driver looked like, he said he couldn't say because the driver was wearing a _ski mask."_

Neal felt an excitement come over him. He saw Peter give him a questioning look. "That's great Moz. Thanks."

"Yeah, Neal. I'll keep looking." The dial tone came over the phone line.

Neal closed his phone and turned towards Peter.

"We've got a lead."

* * *

"Are you sure this is where Mozzie said the trashcan was?" Peter questioned. For the past two hours, Neal and Peter had been going through every trashcan on 57th Street because Moz never did say which trashcan the Artisan threw something away in.

"Yeah, I'm sure," Neal answered. He pointed to the trashcan farthest away from the bus stop. "That's the last one."

"Let's go."

Neal and Peter ran over to the trashcan, put on gloves, opened it up, and went through the contents. The two didn't find anything at first, but then something caught Peter's eye.

"Neal," he said. He picked up the object. It was a phone.

"Neal, this is Elle's." Peter's voice was dead. They already tried tracking her phone, but couldn't find it. Peter opened it up and found it was turned off. He turned it on and checked the most recent calls made. It said the last call made was to Peter, only in front of his number was *67.

"DAMN!" Peter yelled and Neal jumped.

"What is it?" he asked.

"He used her phone to call me!"

Neal took the phone and read the numbers.

"Oh, Peter..." he said lost for words for a moment. Then he started to think. "Lets get this back to the FBI. Maybe they can find some fingerprints." Neal closed the phone and started walking towards the car.

"Yeah, maybe," Peter said, still standing there. He was getting his hopes up, however.

* * *

Hello everyone! I got home early today and started to write so that's why this one is so soon. As always none of this is based on fact! Thanks again for all the comments and alerts!


	9. The Fourth

Lily was walking to her desk on the way back from a meeting and wasn't looking where she was going. She began to check a text message on her phone when she ran into a figure, slipping the espresso she was holding all over them. When she looked up, she saw Shannon Young standing in front of her, dripping in the drink. Lily's face flushed.

"I am _so _so sorry!" she exclaimed and started pulling tissues out of her purse, knowing all too well they wouldn't do much good.

"Um, it's fine," Shannon said, looking at her uniform and chuckling a bit, a change from her previous expression. "I was just-" She cut off mid-sentence and smelled the air. "Is that a chocolate espresso?"

Lily was surprised and stopped digging through her purse for more tissues. "Yes, it was."

"From the _CoffeeShop_, right?" Shannon added.

"Correct again." Lily laughed a bit herself now, finding it funny that the woman knew of the chain she bought her drink from and what is was.

"I thought so. There's a very nice _CoffeeShop_ where I live..." Shannon seemed to be lost in thought, and a wistful look came to her face. She then shook her head. "No one really drinks the espressos there. It's all about the lattes. I for one don't really like the taste."

Lily paused and then started to laugh. Shannon was surprised.

"What?" she asked, seeming a bit embarrassed, and confused as to why this woman was laughing at her.

"It's nothing," Lily said and smiled to make sure Shannon knew it was true. _This woman can't be a con, _she thought to herself. Knowing she'd probably get in trouble later for it, she said, "I'm Lily. Lily Palmer," and held out her hand.

Shannon seemed to look over he shoulder before taking Lily's hand. "I'm El-Shannon. Young."

"So your Mr. Caper's new, um, project?"

Shannon paused. "New? Were there others?" She seemed horrified. Lily was confused.

"Yes... You're the fourth I believe."

Shannon put her hand over her mouth and suppressed a gasp. "What happened to them?"

"I don't know. They never came back," Lily explained. Shannon was shaking a little now. "Is something wrong?"

"No, I'm fine. I just... need to find a restroom. Clean up." Shannon started to walk away when Lily called out, "Wait! Do you need some help?"

"No, I'm fine!" Shannon called back as she quickly turned the corner and Lily couldn't see her anymore.

* * *

"I found a fingerprint," said Adam Beers, a forensic scientist at the FBI. He was talking to Peter and Neal, who after bringing down Elizabeth's cell phone that they found the day before, were awaiting his phone call anxiously. "I ran it against your wife's print that you gave me from the coffee pot. It's wasn't hers."

"So we have his print?" Peter said a little excited.

"I believe so. I just started running it against the White Collar database. If this man is a white collar criminal and was processed, this should only take a few hours. If nothing comes up, I'll search the rest of the FBI criminal database. That would take longer."

"How much longer?" Peter asked hesitantly.

"A few days."

Peter's heart dropped.

It was already day four.

* * *

Hello everyone! I hope everyone is enjoying the story! Thanks again for all the comments and reviews I've been getting! You guys are awesome!

Just a reminder: I own nothing and nothing is based on fact!


	10. May You Find Some Comfort

Elizabeth was sweeping the hallway of the fifth level, when she noticed she was alone. It had been so long since she had a moment by herself, she was almost didn't recognize what it was like. There was always someone around her. Whether it was a staff member or Caper himself, there was always someone there. All of the staff were in a meeting at the moment and the secretaries at the desks up front weren't there, either. There was a telephone at one of their desks.

_No one's around. Now's your chance!_ she thought to herself, but she was wary. She had the feeling someone was watching her.

Her want to leave the law firm overpowered her fear, and she slowly but steadily walked to the desk. She threw one last glance over her shoulder and reached for the phone.

She grabbed the phone.

She had it in her hand.

She started to dial the numbers...

Elle was violently being pulled from behind. She couldn't even see who had a hold on her. She tried to scream, but at the first sounds of a noise leaving her mouth, a hand was placed over it. She was pulled into a small dark room and her head was hit hard against a wall. She heard a small click and light filled the room. Elle could see that they were in a broom closet, now.

"_What did I tell you about stunts like that?" _Caper said menacingly. He looked angry and terrifying. "_WELL?"_

Elizabeth couldn't speak and Caper hit her head roughly hit against the wall again. Elle was starting to see stars from the two blows to her head.

"If you do anything like that again, I _will_ kill you. _You got that?"_ Elle was still very dizzy and gently shook her head, yes.

"Good. Now get out!" Caper opened the door and pushed Elizabeth out the door of the closet. Caper walked out on his own and pushed past her. She didn't she where he went because she had a problem keeping the room straight. Then she heard a voice at the end of the hall.

"Shannon?"

Lily was at the end of the hall, holding two coffee cups in her hands. She had a strange look on her face.

"Are you okay?"

Elle had trouble answering. "I'm fine," she said weakly and unconvincingly.

"I just saw... Mr. Caper... You... _In the closet?"_

Elle was starting to think normally again. "Oh, that was nothing."

"_Nothing? _Shannon your head is bleeding!" Elle put her hand on the side of her face were it was currently hurting the most and she cringed from the touch. She looked at her hand. There was blood.

"Oh..." was all she could say.

"Did he... did he hurt you?"

"No, I just fell that's all," Elle lied. Lily's face was expressionless.

"Really," Lily asked suspiciously. "On what?"

"The broom," Elle answered right away. In truth she did trip on the thing a lot. "I don't think it likes me very much."

Lily wasn't buying it. "Shannon..."

"I'm fine, Lily. I just need to clean up." Lily bit her lip.

"Well... At least take this." She held up one of the coffees to Elle. "It's from _CoffeeShop. _It's a way of saying sorry for yesterday."

Elle took the cup and smelled the steam coming up from the opening of the lid. She smiled and took a large sip of the chocolate espresso. "Thanks," she said after she swallowed.

"No problem."

Elle thought for a moment. "Won't you get in trouble for this?" She didn't want Lily to be fired for her kindness.

"Only if Mr. Caper finds out." Lily smiled.

"My lips are sealed," Elle said. She smiled and the two of them laughed.

* * *

"Something's not right," Lily said, as typed on her computer at her desk. It was late in the afternoon, and the event of the morning was bugging her.

"We work in a law firm, Lily. Nothing's ever right," Alice said also typing.

"I'm talking about Shannon Young, Alice. Something's not right about her being here."

Alice turned towards Lily. "Why are you so concerned about her? You weren't this observant of the other three."

"That's because I didn't see the other three being pushed out of a broom closet by Mr. Caper." Lily watched as Alice's eyes nearly popped out of her head.

"What?"

"You heard me. I was walking from the meeting this morning and I saw Shannon and Caper leaving the broom closet in the hallway!"

"Eww! You don't think they were getting hot and heavy in there, do you?"

"No, no, no! When Shannon left the room she looked hurt. She was even bleeding!"

Alice seemed to be thinking. "What do you think Caper did to her?"

"I don't know. But something tells me she isn't supposed to be here."

* * *

Neal was sitting at his desk reading yet another file, when Diana came over to him, a grim look on her face.

"We've got a problem."

"Like we didn't already?"

Diana let out a sigh. "We've ran out of files to check."

Neal paused and looked up from the file he was reading. "Is that even possible?"

"We've had ten agents going through every file this unit has on hand for the past five days. It was bound to happen eventually."

Neal put this head in his hands and started to rub his temples. "What did Peter say?"

Diana looked uncomfortable.

"You didn't tell him yet."

Neal sounded a bit annoyed and Diana glared at him.

"I've been trained to do a lot of things, Neal. How to shoot, how to interrogate, how to fight. But how to tell your boss, and _friend,_ that the chances of ever finding his wife alive again are quickly dwindling, they don't teach you that in Quantico."

"I'm sorry," Neal said honestly. Sleep deprivation was giving him a headache. "How should we do this."

"You won't need to." Hughes entered the room, a serious look on his face.

"With all due respect sir, why?" Neal asked.

"I need to talk to Peter," Hughes said. "He needs to take a breather. Get out for an hour if anything. The deadline is in two days. If he doesn't rest now, he won't be at the top of his game later and he knows that. However, he doesn't want to stop working."

"Are you sure?" Diana asked. Hughes simply shook his head once.

Hughes walked up the stairs to Peter's office and asked him to come over to his. Peter hesitantly obliged. He walked into Hughes's office and closed the door. Diana and Neal couldn't hear what the two were saying, but the expressions they could see on their faces were clear enough. Hughes's was stern and unyielding as he spoke, while Peter's was desperate and tired as he listened and, once in awhile, objected. This went on for a few minutes, and then Peter came sulking out of the office.

"What did he say?" Diana piped up. Peter's face turned grim.

"No more files to check! How can there be no more?" Peter was venting loudly. Diana and Neal looked at each other. "Hughes told me to get out of the building for an hour. I can't stop now! We've only got _two days left!"_

"Hughes is right, Peter," Neal said. "You'll only be able to help her if you get some rest."

"_No. _Who knows what's happening to her! Plus, whenever I do try and sleep I see..." He didn't finish.

"Go for a drive, Peter. Get some air. It'll help."

Peter shook his head. He was feeling sick to his stomach. Then a little voice in the back of his head started telling him, _Go outside. A drive will help. _Peter mentally smiled, because the voice sounded like Elle. "Fine. I'll go out for a little. I'll be back in _one hour._" Neal and Diana shook their heads in agreement. Peter grabbed his coat and left the unit.

* * *

Peter contemplated going on a walk as he rode down the elevator, but when he walked outside, he found it was too cold. So instead he walked to his car and drove. Peter didn't even know where he was going. After a few minutes, he was just driving down familiar roads and his mind began to wander.

_What's she thinking about right now?_ he thought to himself. _She knows I'm looking for her... right?_

_Is she okay? Is he starving her? Is she hurt? Is she even _alive_? _

Every passing thought was worse than the previous, and eventually, those thoughts became pictures, and those pictures became scenes. So many scenarios crossed his mind.

Elizabeth lying on a concertte floor.

Elizabeth locked in a room, chained to the wall.

The Artisan slowly walking towards Elizabeth as she begged for him to go away...

"NO!" he yelled out loud. "NO, NO, NO!"

Peter was shaking and his mind was racing and he started to loose control of the car. He pulled over on the side of the rode and rubbed his temples.

_Music, _he thought to himself. _Anything, but this. _

He turned on the radio and started to search through the stations. Eventually he found one that did have any static. He recognized the the piano introduction, but couldn't name the song.

_"Spend all your time waiting  
__For that second chance  
__For a break that would make it okay  
__There's always one reason  
__To feel not good enough  
__And it's hard at the end of the day  
__I need some distraction __Oh beautiful release  
__Memory seeps from my veins  
__Let me be empty  
__And weightless and maybe  
__I'll find some peace tonight."_

Peter froze. He knew the song. The song was called_ Angel, _but he forgot who the woman singing it was. More importantly, this was the song Elle always listened to when she was upset. Images of him and Elle flooded his mind as the chorus played.

_"In the arms of an angel  
__Fly away from here  
__From this dark cold hotel room  
__And the endlessness that you fear-"_

He could see her smile and hear her laugh. He could feel her hand in his and smell her perfume all around him. It was like she was there, with him in that moment.

_"You are pulled from the wreckage  
__Of your silent reverie  
__You're in the arms of the angel  
__May you find some comfort there."_

Peter was never one to cry. He was always the strong one, the comforter. But as he listened to the music, he felt the tears coming. This happened many times that week. Peter wouldn't let them come, however, knowing it wouldn't help Elle one bit. But as the song came to a close, he couldn't help, but let the silent tears run down his face.

_"You're in the arms of the angel  
__May you find some comfort here."_

_

* * *

_

Every night when Elizabeth and the Artisan went home, a bag was placed over her head as they drove to his house. When they got there, he would lead her into the house and down some stairs and sit her on the bed. Only then would he pull the bag off her head, smile, and leave her in the dark room, alone. Her only source of light were the green numbers flashing on the alarm clock. It drove her crazy.

It wasn't until about her third night there that she hit the clock and music started to play. The sound scared her at first, but she quickly realized that the clock was also a radio. Ever since then, she played the radio whenever she was there.

On her fifth night, she turned the radio on and a familiar song started to play.

"_Spend all your time waiting  
__For that second chance  
__For a break that would make it okay-"_

It was _Angel _by Sarah McLachlan. Elle usually listened to this song when she was sad, so she found it totally appropriate. She closed her eyes and listened to the lyrics.

_"So tired of the straight line  
__And everywhere you turn  
__There's vultures and thieves at your back  
__And the storm keeps on twisting  
__You keep on building the lie  
__That you make up for all that you lack __It don't make no difference  
__Escaping one last time  
__It's easier to believe in this sweet madness oh  
__This glorious sadness that brings me to my knees."_

She began to think of Peter. _I know you're looking for me, Peter, _Elle thought to herself. _But please find me soon._

_"In the arms of an angel  
__Fly away from here  
__From this dark cold hotel room  
__And the endlessness that you fear  
__You are pulled from the wreckage  
__Of your silent reverie  
__You're in the arms of the angel  
__May you find some comfort there."_

She pictured Peter with his arms around her. That was the only comfort she wanted. She wanted him there with her. The thought that that wouldn't happen again crossed her mind for a mere second, but she quickly dismissed it. He would find her, she knew it.

But that didn't stop the tears from coming, and Elle quietly cried into her pillow, as the song came to a close.

"_You're in the arms of the angel  
__May you find some comfort here."_

_

* * *

_

Hello everyone! So, what do you think? As always I own nothing!


	11. Hopeful Trust

Lily was walking down the hallway delivering some files to a co-worker, when she heard yells for help in the women's restroom. She ran to the yells and as she was approaching the door, she stepped in a large puddle of water. Slowly peeking in, she saw Shannon attempting to re-tighten a pipe with a wrench, as water poured out of it. Lily ran to her assistance, leaving the papers in a dry spot in the doorway.

Lily kneeled next to Shannon, pushing the wrench in an effort to help. Water soaked the women as the two of them tried to get the wrench to tighten the pipes together.

"On three, we both go right! Okay?" Shannon yelled to Lily over the rush of water.

"Okay!"

"One..two..THREE!" Both the women pushed right and the water stopped. Shannon took hold of the wrench and set it on the floor. She fell on her backside and let out a loud sigh and Lily did the same. The two looked at each other and they burst out laughing. They were both soaked. The more the two saw each other, the harder the laughing got.

"How long were you in _here?" _Lily asked, laughing so hard it hurt.

"About ten minutes! No one would come!" Shannon answered, laughing equally as hard.

After awhile, the two women regained some control, and they both positioned themselves against the wall of the bathroom.

"What happened?" Lily asked, a smile still on her face and a few laughs still coming out.

"Someone dropped their wedding ring down the drain and I was sent in after it." Shannon gestured to the wrench on the floor.

"Why didn't you turn the water off?" Lily asked a little more seriously now.

"I asked Caper to, but he said no and handed me the wrench. Actually, he told me, 'Get creative,' and _then_ handed me the wrench."

Lily couldn't believe that Mr. Caper was doing all of this. He was always distant and abrupt, but crude and just plain mean? She just couldn't believe it. However, she saw his cruelty with her own two eyes and there was no point of denying it.

"Shannon," Lily started, looking her in the eyes. "What are you doing here? You don't act or talk like the kind of person whose done was Caper told us you did. I mean, I've met my fair share of criminals, but-"

"Wait," Shannon interrupted, her face visibly paling. She looked so confused. "What do you mean, whose done what I did?"

Lily didn't respond right away, a little afraid to answer, fearing she said too much.

"Lily, what did they tell you I did?" Shannon yelled, jumping to her feet, a little panicked now.

Lily told her slowly, mentally wondering how long it would be before she lost her job. "Mr. Caper... He... He told us you're a con. That you robbed a man of his life savings and that you left him with nothing."

Shannon didn't speak, but she visually relaxed a bit.

"Well, Shannon? Did you do it or not?" Lily said annoyed at her silence.

Shannon was still speechless. Lily quickly became angry, taking the silence for a confession.

"I don't have time for this," Lily said. She got up and started to leave the restroom.

"He told you I did that?" Shannon asked. Lily turned around.

"Yes."

"I didn't. I swear, Lily, I didn't."

Lily paused and let out a sigh. She didn't know if she was being stupid or not, but she believed her. She actually felt relieved that Shannon wasn't who Mr. Caper said she was. She sat down on the wet floor again and Shannon did the same.

"Shannon, why are you here?"

She didn't respond and turned her head away from Lily.

"Shannon, _please_ tell me."

Even with her head turned, Lily could tell Shannon started to tear up. She placed her hands in front of her face, shielding it from Lily's gaze. She stayed like this for a few moments before Lily spoke up again.

"Please, Shannon. Whatever it is, you can trust me." Lily said this very softly.

Shannon looked at Lily with hopeful trust in her eyes, tears still streaming down her face.

"Lily. If I tell you, _he cannot know you know!" _she finally said, urgency in her voice. Lily shook her head yes, once.

Shannon inhaled a deep breath.

"Lily. My name isn't Shannon Young. My name is Elizabeth Burke. And I was kidnapped six days ago."

* * *

Hello everyone! I hope you like where the story's going! Thanks again for all the comments, reviews, and favs! You guys are great! As always, I own nothing!


	12. How To Tell You This

Lily was speechless.

"_What?"_

"Lily, please I need your help," Shannon or _Elizabeth_ said desperately.

"Wait, wait, wait. _Kidnapped?" _Lily stopped and Shannon stared her straight in the eyes.

"Yes."

Lily's head was spinning. She put her head in her hands.

"Please, Lily! I need to call my husband." Lily Looked up.

"_Husband?"_

"Yes, Lily, my husband."

Lily couldn't believe it.

"No."

"_What?"_ Shannon said, despair filling her voice.

"No. How do I even know that you're telling the truth?" Lily yelled. "What if you're just Shannon Young, the con who likes to play people, and I help you escape. I could lose my job, Shannon. I could go to _prison."_

"Please, Lily! My husband is Special Agent Peter Burke. He works in the FBI White Collar Crimes Unit in New York." Shannon was tearing up again by now.

Lily paused. The name, for some reason, clicked in her mind. _Peter Burke. Where have I heard that before? _she thought to it hit her.

"Peter Burke. From the FBI? The same Peter Burke who worked on the Hilton case four years ago?" Lily used to live up in New York, and worked at another law firm there. The whole reason she moved to Pennsylvania was because the case Agent Burke and his team conducted closed down the firm. Someone was robbing the firm of money and she was one of suspects.

She remembered Burke very vividly. He was a stern looking man, and yet was kind. She also remembered that he was the type who liked to get straight to the point of things. At one point in the investigation, Agent Burke found out who was stealing the money from the business, her boss Vincent Hilton. Lily was in the room while Burke tried to arrest him. It was at that point that Hilton drew a gun. He lead the two into the firm's basement and locked the door when he exited. Burke phoned for help and the two spent the next half an hour waiting in that basement.

To pass the time the two talked to each other. Lily talked about her two brothers Jonah and Derek, her job, and even mentioned her dog Sid once. Burke mostly talked about his job, and didn't mention his family. He did, however, talk about his home. He talked about the house itself, about what it looked like, and the people in it, which was him, his dog, and his beloved wife... _Elizabeth._

"Oh my... _You're Elizabeth." _

"Yes, yes, yes!" _Elizabeth _was saying now.

Lily paused. "Did Caper do this?"

"Yes," Elizabeth said instantly. She was now smiling and tears of joy were fall down her cheeks.

Lily paused for a moment taking in her expression. She looked like she won the lottery.

"We need to get you out of here."

Elizabeth and Lily knew they needed to get to a phone, so they peeked out the restroom door. No one was walking the hallway so they decided this would be the best time to call Peter.

"What is Caper comes?" Elizabeth asked worriedly. "I tried this before. He just appears out of thin air!"

"Not today. I know for a fact he's in a meeting he can't get out of." They quickly walked over to Lily's desk.

"Should I call or you?" Lily asked.

"I think you should," Elizabeth said, as she kept looking over her shoulder. "If someone comes by, it'll be easier to explain."

Lily shook her head in agreement and she quickly dialed the numbers as Elizabeth told her them. Lily waited impatiently as the phone started to ring...

* * *

Peter was sitting at his desk a coffee cup in his hand. He didn't know what to do anymore. If he didn't solve the case in the next short hours, he'd probably never see Elle again, and they weren't much closer to solving it from when they had started. Peter kept calling down to Beers, but whenever he answered the phone, he always said, "Close, but not yet."

Peter was losing hope. However, it was about noon when his phone started to ring.

"Hello?," he answered grimly.

"Umm, hello? Agent Burke?" Peter was surprised at the voice. It was the young woman's, and it seemed oddly familiar.

"Yes, this is him."

"Hi, umm, this is Lily Palmer. I don't know if you remember me, but you arrested my boss four years ago. Vincent Hilton?"

Peter remembered the case. He also remember Lily Palmer, who we was held at gunpoint and locked in a basement with.

"Oh, yes. Hello, Lily. This actually isn't the best time..."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm getting off topic. Agent Burke, I don't know how to tell you this, but... I'm with your wife."

Peter's heart stopped. He dropped his coffee cup, causing it to break and the drink slipping all over his desk. Neal, who was in the room next door, heard the noise and started to run over. His jumped a bit when he watched Peter suddenly yell.

"_WHAT?"_

"Yeah, umm... here." Peter heard movement in the background and then another voice came to the phone. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Peter?"

* * *

Hello everyone! Thanks again for all the comments and reviews! As always I own nothing!


	13. ID

Peter couldn't speak. At first he thought he was dreaming until the voice on the other end of the phone line said, "Peter?" again.

"_Elle?"_ he said disbelievingly. Neal's eyes widened from the other side of the room.

"It's me, Peter, it's me!" Elizabeth sounded like she was half sobbing, but also extremely happy. Most importantly, she sounded _alive._

"Elle, are you alright?" he asked. He couldn't contain his excitement. It was showing in his voice.

"I'm fine, Peter. Nothing I can't handle," she laughed into the phone. Peter felt as if a million pounds was lifted from him. He hadn't smiled this much in a week. By this time, Diana, Hughes, and Jones were also in the room along with him and Neal. The second Neal realized that Elizabeth was on the phone, he ran out of the room and got them. They were all wearing dumbfounded expressions.

"Elle, what happened? Do you know who took you?" Peter quickly asked. He didn't know how much time they had and he wanted to know where she was.

"Yes. His name is Steward Caper, and I've been at his law firm for the past week. Peter, you have to come soon. I don't think he's planning on keeping me much longer." Elle sounded suddenly afraid. "The only person who knows who I am is Lily."

"Elle, I'm leaving _right now. _Where are you?"

"We're at the Caper Law Firm of Pennsylvania. I don't know the address though. Hold on." Peter heard a transfer of the phone and Lily's voice came on.

"Agent Burke?"

"Lily, what's the address of the firm?" Lily quickly told him the address of their location.

"Thank you, Lily, so, so much. You have no idea how much I owe you."

"No need to thank me, Agent Burke. Consider it payback for keeping a bullet out of me."

"Still, thank you. May I talk to Elizabeth?"

"Yeah, here." There was more movement in the background.

"Peter?"

"Elle, I'm leaving now. I'll be there as soon as possible, okay?"

"Okay."

"I love you, Elle." Peter was thankful he got the chance to tell her again.

"I love you, too, Peter. I'll see you soon."

Peter suddenly heard Lily in the background saying, "Elizabeth! Someone's coming!"

"Peter, I have to go!"

"Elle?" Peter said but the connection was already dead. Fear washed over Peter.

"Well?" Neal asked before anyone else in the room.

"We have to go. _Now_," he said to the persons in the room. He grabbed his coat, gun, and car keys. The five of them were about to walk out of the office when Peter's phone rang again. He ran towards it.

"Elle?" he answered, hoping it was her again.

"Uh, no. It's Beers. Come down, we've got a match."

* * *

"Beers, you've got two minutes starting now." Peter said when they reached the forensic science unit. He was in a hurry to get on the road. Neal was closely following behind him

"Okay, okay. I had to run the print through the criminal database in order to find anything, and even though it took awhile-"

"_BEERS!" _

"Sorry! Sorry! The man you're looking for is Steward Caper. He owns a law firm in Pennsylvania-"

"Yes, yes, we know that already. Anything else?" Peter asked impatiently.

"Oh, okay then," Beers said, a little put off. "Well here's his photo ID."

Beers hit a few buttons on his computer and the image came up. What came up on the screen shocked both Peter and Neal.

"You've got to be kidding me," Neal said, running his hand through his hair.

"Neal, we have to go. _NOW!" _Peter and Neal ran out the unit.

The picture on the computer screen was the smiling photograph of Kent White.

* * *

So everyone, what do you think? Hope you all enjoy! As always, I own nothing!


	14. You have Arrived

Peter and Neal quickly got into Peter's car and Peter entered the address Lily gave him into his GPS in the vehicle. When Neal noticed the arrival time that had appeared, he frowned.

"Peter, the arrival time is two hours away," Neal commented.

"Well we're getting there in one."

With that, Peter hit the gas and the car bolted forward.

Elizabeth quickly hung up the phone, heeding Lily's warning. She turned around to see Caper walking down the hall, murder in his eyes.

"_What is going on here?" _he said angrily, directing his attention to Elle. He walked straight to her, and she took an involuntary step back backwards, hitting her leg on the desk. "_What did I tell you about coming over here again-"_

"It was me, Mr. Caper." Elle and Caper turned towards Lily.

"_WHAT?" _Caper said, now his anger directing towards Lily. _Lily don't! _Elle pleading silently.

"I brought her over here, Mr. Caper. She was having some problems in the bathroom repairing a pipe and as you can see, we both got a little, well, wet." Lily indicated the clothes both her and Elle were wearing. "I just called maintenance to come and bring us some dry clothes."

Mr. Caper looked at her pointedly. "That isn't their job."

Lily already had an answer. "I know. But Sofia Clark, who_ works _in maintenance, has been my friend for many years, and knows where to get them." It was true. Sofia and Lily started working around the same time and the two of them got lost together on a number of occasions. Lily made a mental note to actually call her because she would know where to find clothes.

Caper looked suspicious, but said, "The next time something happens concerning _her," _he pointed at Elle who flinched from the sudden movement, "you come to _me _first. You got that, Miss Palmer?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good. The second those clothes come up, the both _get back to work._" He shot one last look towards Elle, and walked back down the hall. When Lily knew Caper was gone, she picked up the phone again and started dialing.

"What are you doing?" Elle said worriedly, speaking for the first time in awhile.

"Calling Sophie. We are gonna need those clothes."

* * *

"He was right there, Neal. _Right there!" _Peter shouted, as he drove the car. Neal was holding on for dear life as they drove at speeds much too high above the speed limit.

The two had been driving for only about half an hour and they were already almost halfway there. Neal had never since the agent break the law so much. Heck, he never saw him break the law, _period_. He was running lights and stop signs, and racing at top speeds. It seemed to Neal that the louder Peter got, the faster the car went. Neal had already called Diana and told them the address of where they were going. Her and Jones were also driving to the location, only they were about half an hour behind them.

"We could've had him, Neal," Peter ranted on. His voice was a grave mixture of anger and longing.

"Peter-" Neal was cut off the the screech of the car's tires cutting a car off. "Peter, we wouldn't have known. For all we knew he was just a criminal profiler handing us a case! That he was the actual killer-" The car made a jerk to the side and back as Peter cut off another car. "Peter, I'm gonna be sick." Neal felt like he was going to hurl.

"Not now, Neal." Peter said unsympathetically. He didn't even look at him as the car's speed climbed.

The two drove for about another half an hour or so, the traffic letting up as they continued to drive into Pennsylvania. The only thing the two listened to was the mechanical female voice of the GPS.

"Turn right ahead."

"Exit turnpike."

"Turn left ahead."

After awhile, Neal looked at the arrival time. It was two minutes away.

"Peter..." Neal said, but didn't know how to continue.

"I know, Neal," Peter said with a hard look on his face.

Two minutes later the female voice spoke again.

"You have arrived."

* * *

Hello everyone! I am so sorry this took so long to update! It was a busy last couple of days, but I finally got a breather! Hope you all enjoy!

As always, I own nothing!


	15. Chase

It was about an hour before Sofia was able to bring dry clothes to Lily, so by the time she came, she were already partly dry. Sofia, upon finally coming up, burst out laughing when she saw the condition of her good friend. By this time, Lily's hair was fizzy and undone and her clothes would've been see through if she wasn't wearing layers.

"Yeah, yeah, Sophie, very funny," Lily said sourly. Sofia stopped instanely, hearing the tone of her friend's voice. She handed both pairs of clothes to her.

"Who's the other one for?" Sophie asked, curisous now as to why she was acting so strange. Lily looked uncomfortable for a moment. Then she let out a sigh.

"Soph, if I tell you something, will you promise to keep it an absolute secret? _No one can know," _Lily said urgently. Sophie confused, but obedient, said yes.

Lily shook her head and turned around towards the women's restroom door. "Elizabeth?" she called out quietly, so quiet that no one outside of five feet could hear. "You still in there?"

A head imegered from the restroom slowly and nodded. Sofia reconized the face and froze, speechless. Lily handed her the clothes.

"Here," Lily said. "Now you can get out of those." She gestered to the clothes the woman was wearing.

"Thanks, Lily," she said. Then her gaze turned to Sofia and the woman quickly looked down, seeing the look on her face. She quickly walked back into the restroom.

"Lily..." Sofia stopped, not knowing what else to say. "Lily, that isn't... that isn't the convict Caper's hosting is it?"

"That's what I need to talk to you about," Lily started. "She isn't a convict."

_"What?"_

"This is going to sound hard to believe, Soph, but it's true. Caper brought her here against her will-"

"Wait, wait, wait. Are you trying to tell me _Caper kidnapped her?_"

Lily looked somber. "Yes."

Sofia didn't know what to think. She never did like Caper, and always thought he was a creep, but _this?_ It was hard for her to take in.

"Please, Sophie. I need your help."

Sofia didn't know what to say. After a moment, she spoke.

"What do you want me to do?"

Peter and Neal entered the lobby of the law firm, both keeping a lookout for Elizabeth, Lily, or White. They walked up to a security guard who controlled the doors to enter the rest of the building

and as they neared the man, Peter noticed that the nametag on his uniform said Frank.

"May I help you two?" Frank said as they came to the front desk.

"Agent Peter Burke, FBI." Peter showed him his badge. "We need to get through those doors."

"May I ask why?"

"Peter." Peter turned towards Neal. Neal was pointing in the direction behind the clear doors.

There was Kent White, looking through the doors on the other side, a disbelieving expression on his face. Suddenly, White ran in the direction of the stairs.

"That's why," Peter said, urgently. "_Open the doors. NOW!"_

Frank did this and Peter and Neal ran after the White.

The chase had begun.

Hello everyone! I am so sorry this took so long! It's been a _crazy_ week! Also sorry it's kind of short. I hope you're all enjoying!

As always I own nothing!


	16. Lace

"Lily, if I lose my job because of you-"

"You're not."

"If I go to_ prison _because of you-"

_"You're not."_

"If I get shot for helping a _prisoner escape _because of you-"

"Sofia! You're not going to get fired, imprisoned, or _shot_ because of this!"

Lily, Elizabeth, and Sofia were walking through the catacombs of the law firm's basement. Lily asked Sofia to hide the two of them somewhere until Peter came, and after wearily agreeing, Sofia made certain Lily knew what would happen to her by her hands if this _Elizabeth_ turned out to be a lying Shannon. Sofia didn't even try and keep her voice down, hoping that it would make Elizabeth guilty and confess to being a con. Elizabeth certainly felt guilty, but she had nothing to confess to.

"Lily," she finally spoke up after many minutes of walking. "Where are we going?"

"There's a room down here that used to be an old bomb shelter in the 60s," Lily explained as they marched forward. "No one comes down here anymore. We're gonna stay don't here 'til Peter comes."

Elizabeth smiled slightly and shook her head.

"If he comes," Sofia mumbled under her breath. Elle didn't hear, but Lily did and she scowled in Sophie direction.

The three continued to walk until they were lead to a large metal door that had locks on the outside. Sofia began to take out a set of keys she had and after looking through them for a moment, she found the one she was looking for and opened the locks on the door. It took both Lily and Sophie to open the door, and as it began to slid, Elizabeth could see why. The door was made of at least two inches of steel. As they entered the room, Elizabeth was surprised to see that the place was so clean. She looked around the metal room to see that looked a bit lived in.

Noticing her expression, Lily said, "Sophie and I have been coming down here for years."

"Why's that?" Elle asked.

"It's quiet down here. We eat lunch here sometimes, and even once in a while if we have to work late, we'll come down and watch a movie on the projector." She gestured towards the old looking movie projector in the corner of the room.

Sofia went over to lay on one of the beds in the middle of room and closed her eyes when her head hit the pillow. Elle walked over and sat on the next bed, while Lily walked over to the shelf stocked with cans of food and other various items.

"Thank you for doing this," Elle said to Sophie. Her eyes opened.

"Whatever," she said curtly.

"No, really." Sophie turned towards Elle. She pointed a finger at her.

"If you turn out to be nothing more than a con looking for a way out of here-"

"I'm not," Elizabeth said with no hesitation. "I just wanna go home."

Sophie sighed, turned away and closed her eyes again. Elizabeth laid down her own bed and jumped when she heard popping noises to her left. She sat up and looked over to see Lily standing next to microwave, a bag of popcorn inside.

"There's a microwave here?" Elle asked. She began to wonder why such an old place had new appliances.

"Yeah, Caper put it down here," Lily said. The name sent a chill down Elizabeth's spine.

"Why's that?"

Sophie started to laugh. "When we started working here, we got lost one day and found this place. We both thought it was cool, so we decided to spruce up the place, and make it our own little 'clubhouse.'" Sophie sat up and turned towards Elle. "Caper caught us down here one day. Boy was he mad. 'No one knows this place even exists!' he said. I've never seen a man so angry. When he finally cooled down, he just asked us what we were doing down here. We just told him we were hanging out here at lunch. Surprisingly, he let us continue to come down here as long as we followed some rules. He even started putting some stuff down here for us to use, like the microwave and the projector."

"What are the rules?"

"There were three. One: Don't burn the place down. He was very serious about that one. Two: Don't let anyone else know this is here. Well that didn't work out, now that you're here. And last was that we couldn't open that chest over there." Sophie pointed over near the corner of the room and there it was. A chest, old looking and dark, was sitting there alone.

"Did he tell you why?" Elle asked, a little afraid to know the answer.

"Never said."

Elizabeth had an idea why. She got up and walked over to where the microwave was. It was sitting on a counter top and she opened the door beneath it. She found what she was looking for; a fire extinguisher.

"What are you doing?" Sofia asked as Elle picked up the extinguisher and walked it over to the chest. There was a metal padlock that looked very ancient.

"Elizabeth?" Lily questioned, as Elle picked the fire extinguisher above her head. With a deafening crack, Elle swung the extinguisher forward and the lock broke.

_"What the hell are you doing?" _Sofia exclaimed. Elle didn't listen. She simply took off the lock and opened the chest.

"I told you this was a bad idea!" Sofia was shouting at Lily. The two were running towards Elle now, but she didn't seem to notice. The contents of the chest were odd. It was mostly stuffed with costumes of older eras, and make-up. Elle digged deeper down and found a bottle of hairspray.

"What is all this?" Lily asked. Sophie and her had stopped and were looking over Elle's shoulder and into the chest now. The two sat beside Elle as they looked through it. Sophie picked up a dress Elle threw to the side.

"I never took Caper for the dress up type."

"Or to care so much about his hair products," Lily said as she picked up the hairspray.

Elizabeth was already digger further into the chest when she came across what looked like a scrapbook. It was white and covered with lace. Elle knew what this meant. She opened it and her guess was correct. The first photo in the scrapbook was of a man, dressed in a suit and bow-tie, and a pretty blond in a wedding dress, both standing at an altar. She couldn't believe it. Lily looked over and gasped.

"Is that... Caper?"

* * *

Yay! I finally updated! I'm so sorry everyone! It's been a crazy week or so. Hope you enjoy!

As always I own nothing.


	17. Rounds

"It is!" Sofia exclaimed, not believing what she was seeing. None of them really could.

"I can't believe he was married..." Lily mused. "Heck, I never saw him at as the relationship type..."

"Like we'd ever know," Sophie said. "He never talked to anyone unless it was business related or we did something wrong!"

As Lily and Sophie continued to speak, Elizabeth flipped through the pages of the scrapbook, looking at the pictures on all of them. The album mostly contained pictures of the happy bride and groom and occasionally pictures of relatives and friends. Of the whole book, two pages struck Elle the most. One of Caper and his wife cutting their wedding cake, both of them smiling with elated expressions, and the other of the two on the dance floor, the bride's head bend backwards as she laughed. These stayed with Elle the most because Caper looked so _happy, _an emotion she didn't think he was capable of and it almost frightened her. _What made him so angry?_ she asked herself.

She went through every page in the book, and it wasn't until the last one that Elizabeth became confused. There wasn't a picture on the page, but a newspaper article. At first she assumed it would be an engagement or wedding announcement, but there was no picture with it and as she read it, she realized it was the farthest thing from a happy announcement. It was an obituary.

"Lily," Elle said, tapping Lily on the shoulder and taking her away from her conversation with Sophie. "Look at this."

When Lily looked at it, she read out loud.

"_On May 7, 2010, Deborah Caper of Quakertown was murdered at approximately 10:00 pm at her place of work. Her place of employment, the Arts of Previous Years Museum, was hosting an event showcasing their new pieces of art, when Caper disappeared from the event. Her body was found in a closet in one of the backrooms of the museum. She was strangled using tremendous force. Suspects include the male celebrities, businessmen, and political figures who attended the party. The police will release more details as the investigation goes on." _

Lily stopped for a moment before continuing. "_Survivors: Parents Rachel and Vincent Peers, and sister Beth Daniels, all of Quakertown. And-" _Lily quickly cut off and didn't continue. Sofia did.

"_And husband Steward Caper of Allentown."_

* * *

Peter and Neal followed Caper up a flight of stairs and into the third floor offices of the law firm. Peter was running on pure adrenaline, wanting nothing more than to catch Caper and break both his arms in the process. He thought the capture would be simple enough, until Caper stopped about three meters in front of them and reached into his suit. Peter had been in the FBI long enough to know what that meant.

"_He's got a gun!" _Peter yelled to Neal, and then louder for everyone else to hear. "_Everybody down!"_

There were yells and screams from all around them as Caper took out his gun and shot twice in Neal and Peter's direction. The two quickly ducked behind a empty cubicle. Peter drew his weapon and when no more shots went off, he looked around the corner to see Caper running through another door that lend to another flight of stairs.

"Let's go," he said to Neal and the two took off after him.

When they reached the stairs, the two looked over edge to see Caper only about a half a flight in front of them. They didn't look for long before Caper looked up and shot three more rounds at them.

"Look out!" Neal yelled and he quickly pulled Peter back as bullet whizzed past his head.

"Thanks," he said to Neal and the two, keeping low, ran down the stairs. They almost got a hold on Caper, but he reached the ground floor before they did and took off in the direction of a dark hallway. Peter and Neal pursued him.

Caper seemed to keep ahead of them, do to the fact that the dark, narrow path had a lot of low pipes that the agents kept running into. Caper on the other hand seemed to know where all the obstacles were. A good ways in front of Neal and Peter, he reached a point in the hallway were he turned and tried opening a large metal door. With much difficulty he finally got it open and ran inside. When the two reached the door and went in, Peter was shocked by what he saw. In one corner of the room was Lily Palmer, and another woman Peter didn't recognize staring at the middle of the room, frightened expressions on their faces. Peter followed their gazes and saw what they were looking at.

Caper was in the middle of the room, holding a brunette woman close to him as she struggled to get away. Her hair was in her face, and her head was facing towards the ground. Caper was holding his gun to her head.

"It ends here, Burke," Caper said to Peter. At the sound of his name, the woman lifted her head, tears streaming down her face.

Peter caught his breathe.

"Peter?" Elizabeth whispered.

* * *

Hey everybody! In case you didn't see my profile updated, my computer died! Oh, yay! So I've only been able to update until now. Sorry about that!

_The Arts of Previous Years Museum_ is made not a real place, however, (as some of you might know) Quakertown and Allentown are.

As always, nothing is based on fact and nothing ids mine. Hope you all enjoy!


	18. Killers

Peter stood there, terrified. In his peripheral vision, he could see Neal at his side, mimicking his expression.

"Caper," Peter said slowly, his eyes darting from Elizabeth to him and back again. "We can talk about this..."

Peter took a slow step forward.

"Not one more step, Burke," Caper growled, and pushed the gun against Elle's head, who shook in response. Peter stopped dead in his tracks.

"Caper, there's something you want. I'm not certain what that is, but hurting my wife isn't going to get you it-"

Caper began to laugh, menacingly. It sent shivers down the spines of the other five people in the room.

"You know what, Burke? You're right! There is something I want." Caper gestured to the gun he held, "And that's _revenge_." He put extra emphasis on the last word.

Peter mentally grimaced. He couldn't exactly pay Caper off with revenge.

_"Why, Caper?" _Peter asked desperately. "She hasn't done anything _wrong! _If you want your _revenge, _take it out on me! Not _her!"_

"Peter, no!" Elle cried out and Caper held her tighter, his arm now wrapping around her neck.

"Shut it," he told her curtly, no sympathy in his voice. He looked up at Peter. "It's over, Burke."

Caper clicked the safety off his gun.

Peter held his breath.

Neal gasped.

Lily and her friend closed their eyes.

Elizabeth spoke.

"Would Deborah want this?"

Caper visibly froze. He seemed to pale at the remark. Then his expression turned to rage.

_"WHAT?" _he yelled, and he threw Elle to the ground. She yelled as a painful crack echoed through the room.

_"Elle!"_ Peter cried out. He started to run towards her, but was held back by Neal despite his struggles. Peter's attempts only grew more frequent as Caper pointed his gun at Elizabeth.

"_What did you say?" _he questioned menacingly. As she gripped her injured arm, he began to slowly walk towards her. Between the pain and her fear, her eyes started to tear up, but she spoke up anyway.

"You heard me. Deborah. Your _wife."_

Caper began to shake with fury. "_How the _hell _do you know about-" _He stopped, something in the corner of his eye catching his attention. He turned slightly. He noticed the ancient chest opened in the corner of the room.

"You little-"

"They never did find her killer, did they." Elle shocked herself. The words left her mouth before she realized it.

Caper's eyes widened, but he didn't say anything. She spoke again. "And that's why you want revenge. But hurting anyone isn't going to bring her back."

_"You think I don't know that?" _Caper screamed. He ran his fingers through his hair, his gun still in his hand. He looked as if he was having a panic attack, his eyes darting around the room, his body trembling. Then he turned back to her. "And that's why I'm doing this. So that no one has to deal with people like _you!" _

Elle was taken back at this statement. "What have I done?"

* * *

_"Elle!"_ Peter cried out. He started to run towards her, but was held back by Neal despite his struggles.

Peter was beginning to panic. Caper was holding a gun to Elizabeth and he was running out of ideas. What was making it worse was that Neal was holding him back.

"Neal, _let me go!" _Peter quietly demanded. The last thing he needed was Caper to believe he had the upper hand thinking the partners were fighting.

"Peter, if you go charging at him, he'll shoot Elle before you get to him!" Neal reasoned in a low voice.

Neal was right.

"Neal, we need to get to her. If one of us could even just get her out of his way..."

"You get Elle, I'll go after Caper."

"No. _I'll_ go after Caper. _You_ get Elle, Lily, and whoever that other woman is over there. I can hold him off longer than you."

Peter was right.

"Peter..." Neal hesitated, but Caper looked wild standing in front of Elle and he knew there was no time to argue. "You know I'm not one for guns, but if he takes a shot at you-"

"Don't worry. I know what you mean."

The two looked at Caper and Elizabeth.

* * *

Elle was taken back at this statement. "What have I done?"

"Oh, it's not just you. Don't think you're so special," Caper mocked. "It's you and the rest of the people in this world, who believe they're better than everyone else because they're upper class!"

Elle didn't understand what he was saying. "Caper, I have no idea-"

"_Don't give me that CRAP!" _Caper closed his eyes for a moment and rubbed his temples. "Debbie-" His eyes started tearing. Then rage again filled his features and he gripped his gun harder.

Elle flinched away at the sight of his anger. However, as she turned her head away, in the corner of her eye she saw Neal, walking to Caper's side, out of his line of vision. Confused at first, she looked up and saw Peter a few feet behind Caper.

"Caper," Peter said, his voice hard. Caper's eye's widened and he turned around, not believing he forgot about the two agents. "You can still walk away from this. At least without a bullet in you."

Caper's face composed and he smirked.

"That's not going to happen, Agent Burke."

Caper raised his gun to Peter.

Peter raised his gun to Caper.

And then the shots rang out.

* * *

Hello everyone! I'm planning on only having two more chapters left, so the end is near! Hope you are all still enjoying!

Thanks for all the comments everyone! I'm lovin' you all!

As always, I own nothing!


	19. Pressure

"PETER!"

* * *

"Keep applying pressure!"

"His vitals are low. He's losing too much blood and fast!"

"We're losing him!"

_Beeeeep..._

The paramedic looked at Neal.

"I'm sorry. We lost him."

* * *

When the shots rang out, they both went down. Caper was the first to hit the floor. Everything went silent.

"PETER!" Elizabeth screamed, as she got up and ran to her husband. Peter wasn't moving. She didn't even look at Caper as she passed him. When she reached Peter, she dropped to her knees beside him.

"PETER! Peter, please! GET UP!" Tears flowed down her face. She pick up one of his hand and he stirred, groaning.

"Peter?" Elle asked quietly. She watched as his eyes opened a bit, dazed. He smiled a little.

"Hey, Elle," he said weakly, chuckling softly. Elizabeth let out a sigh of relief. By this time, Neal and Sophie were also by his side, and Sophie was in the corner of the room calling 911.

"Don't you _ever_ scare me like that again!" she scolded. Neal laughed at the exchange, then got up, pulling out his phone and running over to Caper.

She let out a relief filled laugh and she squeezed his hand. He squeezed back, but he painfully winced.

"Peter?" Elle asked, and she turned over his arm a little, again making him wince. He was bleeding through his shirt near his shoulder. Realization hit.

"Peter! You got shot!" Elizabeth said, visibly paling. Peter chuckled a bit, but thought better of it, pain shearing through his body.

"Don't worry about it. I'll be fine," he said, as he tried to sit up. As he did, he suddenly got very dizzy, but didn't sit back down despite Elle's protests.

"Hello, Agent Burke," Lily said to Peter, speaking for the first time.

"Hello, Miss Palmer. This is the second time I've had to raid your workplace. I suggest a career change," Peter answered. Lily laughed.

"I agree. Two FBI visits during your employment doesn't look good on a résumé." Peter chuckled and looked like he was about to continue, when Neal called out, "Peter!" He was kneeling next to Caper.

With the help of both Elle and Lily, Peter got up and walked over to Neal. Sophie, off the phone at this point, looked at Peter's arm and ran to Caper's chest of costumes, ripping off a piece and giving it to him. Peter tied it around the top of the wound and bit his lower lip as he tighten it.

"Thanks, Miss..."

"Clark. Sophie."

Peter shook his head. "Thank you."

They all looked down at Caper. The slight rise of his chest indicated he was alive, but he didn't look good. Peter, being the better shot, hit Caper square in the chest. Neal was at his side, trying to suppress the bleeding.

"911's on the way," Sophie said. Neal shook his head.

"So's Diana and Jones," he said to Peter.

Peter knelt down beside Neal and tried to help to suppress the bleeding. Elle knelt down too, but wrapped her arms around Peter instead. Seeing Neal had the wound covered, he did the same to her, not wanting to let go. Neal groaned. He was feeling dizzy from the sight of the blood.

"He's losing too much blood," Neal stated, turning his head away from Caper, but still applied pressure to the wound. Just then Caper's eyelids fluttered. Elle cringed.

"Debbie," he whispered. Neal looked to Peter. They then heard the sounds of sirens overhead.

Caper closed his eyes.

* * *

"Keep applying pressure!"

The paramedics hoisted Caper up on a gurney and ran him to the ambulance outside. Neal followed them into the vehicle while Peter and Elle waited for Jones and Diana to come. When the four were all in the ambulance, the paramedics hooked Caper up to a series of wires and machines.

"His vitals are low. He's losing too much blood and fast!"

Caper was visibly paling. Neal could only watch as the two paramedics did everything them could to save him.

"We're losing him!"

Neal jumped. One of the machines had gone off.

_Beeeeep..._

The paramedic looked at Neal.

"I'm sorry. We lost him."

Neal looked at the two of them. "Don't be."

* * *

Hello everyone! One chapter to go! Sorry this took so long to post.

I also have a new poll up with possible prompts for those who like my _Burn Notice_ stories.

Also anyone can send me a prompt! I'll start going through them as

soon as this is done. Thanks for sticking with this till the end!

~Mel


	20. Message

Peter and Elizabeth watched as the Neal, Caper, and the paramedics entered the ambulance and pulled away. After that, it was quiet. Peter and Elle didn't look at each other for a moment, but they were holding hands and keeping close. It was right then that it hit the both of them that they were both there, and safe. Peter wrapped Elle in a tight hug, as she started to cry quietly.

"Shh, Elle, I'm right here," Peter said softly, stroking her hair lightly. The feel of her in his arms was amazing to him. He thought he would never again be able to hold her, to tell her these words, and comfort her. "It's over, now. He's not coming back."

"I know," she said after a seconds, sniffling, "I'm just... glad it's over." She looked up and smiled at him through the tears. Peter smiled down at her, but suddenly tensed up.

"Elle, did he hurt you?" he said, murder in his eyes. Elle shook her head.

"No, no. He didn't." She sniffled a little more, than wiped the tears from her eyes. Peter relaxed and held her close once more, kissing her head. He walked her towards the second dispatched ambulance and he told one of the paramedics to look her over to make sure she was okay. Peter, already treated for his own wound, did this despite the protests of Elle. When the paramedic finished, assuring Peter that other than a few bruises Elizabeth was fine, the two started to walk away from the vehicle when Diana walked up to them. Peter noticed she wasn't alone. Behind her followed a slightly balding, middle aged man in a suit. He didn't look at anybody or anything, but his shoes. Diana spoke first.

"Peter," she started, seeming a little out of breath, "we saw Neal go into the ambulance. Is he alright?" She noticed his bandaged arm. "Are _you _alright?"

"We're fine," Peter replied, still holding Elle closely at his side. "He went into the ambulance that took Caper away." The man in the suit looked up, looking solemnly at Peter. Diana turned to be Elizabeth.

"Hey, Elle, how you doing?" she asked her.

"I'm fine, thanks Diana." Diana smiled, than turned to Peter.

"Peter, this man was looking for you. He says it has to do with Caper." Peter looked at the man, who turned away in response.

Elle started to cough and Peter looked at her in concern.

"Do you need some water, Elle?" Diana asked her. Elizabeth nodded in gratitude. She looked at Peter and a knowing looked crossed her face, while an apologetic one formed on his. She squeezed his hand and walked away with Diana. The man looked up.

"Agent Burke," he said, holding out his hand. Peter didn't move. The man took his hand back. "Agent, I've been a long time friend of Steward Caper. My name is Kent White, Esq."

Peter winced.

"The _real_ Kent White?" he asked, pointedly.

White looked at his shoes again. "Umm, yes. When I heard Kent White from Pennsylvania took a trip to the New York White Collar Crimes Unit, I didn't think much of it. Then I heard that Steward was out of town and I got suspicious. Then I heard about this..." The man grimaced.

"A long time friend?" Peter questioned.

"Yes. Steward and I knew each other for twenty-five years. We met in high school. I was the best man at his wedding, actually." White chuckled a little, then stopped and a sad expression formed on his face.

"Mr. White, do you have any idea why Caper started doing... _this?"_ Peter gestured to the scene around them; the police cars, the ambulances, people being questioned in the street.

White inhaled a deep breath. "Steward took the death of his wife Debbie hard. Actually," the man stopped, then continued, "that's a bit of an understatement. He cracked. He was never the same. He believed that someone at the party she was killed at did it. The police did find the man that did it. A schizophrenic homeless man broke in and attacked her. He even admitted to it.

"Steward, however, didn't believe it was him. He got it in his mind it was one of the rich party-goers, who killed her because she wasn't as wealthy or prominent as them. He began to hate anyone who had money, or success in any part of their lives. I never saw him like that. It scared me, and everyone else close to him." White stopped and didn't continue.

"When was the last time you talked him?" Peter asked.

"About, four-five months ago. I called every once in a while to check on him."

Peter shook his head. He looked and saw Elle and Diana coming back with water bottles in their hands.

"Do you know why he attacked the wives instead of the husbands?" he asked quickly. He didn't want to talk about this in front of Elizabeth.

"Why? I guess we'll never be sure," White said. "However, I think he did because he wanted them to feel what he felt, you know? Like revenge."

Peter understood. Elizabeth walked over to him and he put one of his arms around her and held his other hand out to White.

"Thank you," he said and the two shook hands. Diana lead White away.

"What was that about?" Elle inquired.

"He was telling me about Caper," Peter said, wrapping both his arms around her.

"Anything I'd like to know?" she said, a sad look crossing her face.

Peter kissed her forehead. "Later, if you still want too." He paused. His faced turned serious. "I love you, Elle. I don't know what I would have done if..." He didn't continue.

"I love you, too, Peter." The two kissed tenderly, both enjoying the experience they knew they could've lost forever. When they separated, Peter continued to hold her tight. Suddenly, Peter's phone vibrated, but he didn't pick it up. He just enjoyed making up the lost moments with Elizabeth. What he didn't know was that he had just received a text message from Neal, reading the happiest news Peter could have heard, besides knowing that his wife was safe in his arms.

_Caper's dead._

The End.

* * *

And the story is done! That you to everyone whose been leaving me comments and sticking with me to the end! Sorry this took a little longer to post! I wanted to make it perfect for you guys! I you guys want, I can post the songs I used in the making of this story on my profile. Just tell me! I'm also excepting prompts if you guys want to see me doing something.

As always, I own nothing and nothing is based on fact!  
Thank you all!

~Mel


	21. Mona Lisa Alternate Ending

Hello everyone! Thanks for giving me a chance to post my original ending! The reason this didn't make the final cut was because I believed Caper dying on his way to the hospital would leave a cleaner ending with less questions to be answered. However, there was a lot of stuff I wanted to put in this version that I couldn't put in the used ending. Also, this ending might be a little scrambled. So here it is!

* * *

"Keep applying pressure!"

The paramedics hoisted Caper up on a gurney and ran him to the ambulance outside. Neal followed them into the vehicle while Peter and Elle waited for Jones and Diana to come. When the four were all in the ambulance, the paramedics hooked Caper unto a series of wires and machines.

"His vitals are low. He's losing too much blood and fast!"

Caper was visually paling. Neal could only watch as the two paramedics did everything they could to save him.

"We're losing him!"

Neal jumped. One of the machines had gone off.

_Beeeeep..._

The paramedic looked at Neal.

"I'm sorry. We lost him."

Neal looked at the two of them. "Don't be."

The paramedic gave Neal a questioning look, but didn't comment. The other paramedic was still looking over Caper.

"He gave up so easily," he mused. "Normally they have more of a fight in them."

"Well, he didn't have much to look forward to here," Neal said hollowly as he pulled out his cell phone and started to text Peter. However, before he could send the message, the machine the paramedic was about to take Caper off made a loud noise.

_Beep, beep, beep..._

* * *

"I love you, too, Peter." The two kissed tenderly, both enjoying the experience they knew they could've lost forever. When they separated, Peter continued to hold her tight. Suddenly, Peter's phone vibrated, but he didn't pick it up. He just enjoyed making up the lost moments with Elizabeth. But his phone kept vibrating and even though Peter tried to ignore it, Elle could feel it moving in his pocket.

"Someone wants you," she said, still wrapped in his arms.

Peter wasn't having it. "They can wait."

The phone stopped buzzing for a moment, but then continued again for a second time. Elizabeth looked up at him, smirking a bit. Peter exhaled.

"I'll only be a second," he said reluctantly. He took his phone out with his right hand while his left was still around Elle. He saw that he received two calls from Neal, and one voicemail. Elizabeth saw this and gave Peter a kiss on the cheek.

"I'll be with Diana," she said. Before he could say anything, she took his arm off her and started to walk away with a smile on her face. Peter sighed and listened to the voicemail waiting for him.

_"Peter, it's me. Caper's alive. We're taking him to St. Michael's. They said bullet missed his heart by a quarter of an inch..." _Neal trailed off in the message. _"They say it's a miracle he's alive." _

He heard Neal exhale on the other end and then hang up. The message was over. Peter looked over to Elizabeth and Diana sitting on a bench and sighed. He knew where he needed to be.

* * *

"Mr. Caper just got out of surgery," Dr. Cole told Peter and Neal. He was Caper's main surgeon and just come out of the operating room. He sent some of his colleagues to take Caper to his room and then came out to talk to the two. Neal and Peter had been sitting in the ICU waiting room for five hours and they were both tired and ready to question him. "He should be waking up in an hour or so. You may speak to him then."

Peter and Neal exchanged a glance. "Is there any way that he could wake up before then?" Peter asked.

Dr. Cole scratched his head. "Well, little by little, we're letting him off the Isoflurane we gave him for the operation, but we're keeping him on the pain medication. He could wake up sooner, but that's unlikely."

Neal and Peter shook their heads. "May we at least get his fingerprints?"

"Yeah, sure. I'll have a nurse take you to his room."

A nurse named Adele lead Peter and Neal to Caper's room and politely left when they began to bring out their fingerprinting supplies. As the two began to fingerprint him, Peter couldn't help, but look at Caper. Here at his hands was the man who kidnapped his wife and threatened to shoot her. If Neal wasn't in the room Peter didn't know what he would-

"Peter."

Peter looked at Neal.

"We're done here," Neal said. The two began to pack up when there was a sudden spike in Caper's monitor. Neal and Peter looked at each other.

"He can't be," Neal said, disbelieving. "Dr. Cole said... he shouldn't be..."

The monitor jumped another time and then continued its normal pace. Neal and Peter waited a moment, but nothing else happened.

"Let's go, Peter. We'll come back when he wakes up." Peter shook his head in agreement. But as the two started to leave the room, they heard a slight chuckle. They turned around and watched Caper slowly open his eyes.

"Well if it isn't my two favorite suits," he said drowsily. He could barely keep his eyes on the two of them because of his medication and wires and bruises covered every inch of him. He was truly a pathetic sight, but the sight of him filled Peter with rage.

"You bastard," Peter spat. He started to storm towards him, but Neal held him back. Caper laughed.

"I'm the bastard? You're the one about to hit a man in the hospital," he sneered.

"You took my wife," Peter said with frightening force, leaving each word more venomous as the last.

Caper chuckled. "You both deserved it. You and the rest of the rest of the people out there thinking the world is their personal playground! There must be consequences for what you do! My wife-"

"-Was killed by a sick homeless man who sunk into the party. Kent White told us the real story. Caper, you're letting your grief overtake you. You don't know what you're talking about-"

"YES I DO!" Caper's monitor went in a frenzy and his blood pressure rose higher with each passing moment. His eyes were wild and his voice became high pitched and angry "Those detectives had no idea what they were talking about! Debbie was killed by someone _at the party! _Someone who PAYED THEM OFF! Not that man ON THE STREET! And Kent..." Caper paused, a look of grief on his face. "I thought White would do better. Debbie was his friend..."

"Excuse me." Peter and Neal turned around. It was Nurse Adele. "Agents, Dr. Cole is asking you two to leave. Mr. Caper needs his rest."

"That's fine. We were just leaving," Peter said. He turned to Caper. "Have a good rest, Caper. See you at your hearing." Neal and Peter turned to leave. Nurse Adele went over to Caper to give him some more meds.

"Burke," he called over in a drowsy voice. The pair turned their heads. "Your wife _is_ beautiful. She was going to be my _Mona Lisa_." He smiled wicked.

Peter's blood boiled over, but he kept his voice calm. "Goodbye, Caper."

The two left the room.

* * *

"What are you thinking, Peter?" Neal said. The two were walking to the car and Peter wasn't speaking.

"I'm afraid Caper's lawyer will plead insanity due to a traumatic event."

"Would the judge go for that?"

"Maybe. Since Caper's wife died, he's been acting this way. There was no evidence to suggest he would have done if it didn't happen."

"Either way, Peter, he's going away for a long time. They won't release him if he keeps up his story about Debbie."

Peter nodded his head. "True."

The two made it to the car and Peter drove Neal back to his apartment, also picking up Satchmo after thanking June for watching him. But it wasn't until he was pulling away from June's place that it hit him that Neal hadn't been home for as long as Peter was. He forgot to thank Neal for all his help, but made a mental note to call him in the morning. Their job was done for now and Peter knew they both needed their rest.

Diana said she'd give Elle a ride home and he gave her a key so she could get in, so Peter drove directly home afterwards. Peter pulled into his parking spot in front of his house and quietly came in through the door with Satch. Peter hoped he would be quiet, but Satch ran up stairs and into his and Elizabeth's room.

Peter came up the stairs and into the room to see Satch lying on the bed with Elle.

"Hey, Satch. I was wondering where you were," she a little drowsily. She was slowly petting Satch and he licked her face a little, and she tiredly laughed. She had been sleeping, happy to be in her own bed. She looked at Peter. "Hey."

"Hey," he said lovingly to her. He went over and put a kiss on her head. "I'll be right back."

"Okay," she said, and put her head on her pillow. Peter quickly got ready for bed, changing into an old shirt and sweatpants, brushing his teeth, etc. He then went back into their room seeing Elle hardly awake, but keeping her eyes a little open. He got in next to her and wrapped his arms around her.

"Goodnight, Elle," he whispered in her ear. "I love you."

She smiled tiredly. "I love you, too, Peter."

And then they fell asleep, happy to be each other's arms once again.

The End.

* * *

Wow. That took a lot longer to write then expected, but, you know. Life gets in the way. I hope you all like it! Thanks for sticking with me for so long!

So which ending do you like better?

As always, I own nothing!

~Mel


End file.
